The rules of discovery have changed since the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) went into effect December 1, 2006. With the focus of the amended rules on Electronically Stored Information (ESI), law firms and their clients must incorporate Electronic Data Discovery (EDD) tools and best practices into their litigation discovery processes to handle the potentially massive amounts of ESI associated with a given matter. The explosion of paper documents in the nineties has given way to a greater explosion of ESI in the new millennium – primarily emails and their attachments and, more recently, voicemails and other digitally recorded conversations.
The amended rules codify processes and procedures that level the playing field for all parties involved. However, in doing so, all parties are subject to significant sanctions and adverse judgments from claims of spoliation and obstruction resulting from not following the new rules, or errors in judgment or interpretation. This new world of EDD adds a new layer of complexity to the processes employed by litigation support teams. The review, production and presentation requirements are not significantly different. However, the identification, preservation, collection of ESI and related processing requirements are far more complex.
The industry experts at BlueStar continue to be trusted advisors to litigation support teams - delivering EDD solutions, services and training since 2003. EDD services include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Identification of likely sources
- Collection of ESI while avoiding spoliation and maintaining the chain-of-custody
- Preserve metadata
- Provide email thread analysis including attachments
- Provide audio search of WAV and MP3 files
- Make the collected data readable and useable
- Filter the collected data to a manageable and relevant data set
- Deliver requested data in Native, TIFF or PDF format compatible with leading review and production platforms endorsed as requested
- OCR and/or coding
- Host databases
- Foreign language capabilities
As an independent solutions provider, BlueStar offers both expertise and choices. On a case-by-case basis, let us help you assess your needs, develop a strategy and compile your data for review.
