Electronic discovery

Electronic discovery

Electronic discovery is the term used to refer to the pre-trial procedures in legal proceedings such as the government investigations, litigation as well as Freedom of Information Act where the Information required is in electronic format (Ruhnka. This is commonly referred to as Electronically Stored Information (ESI). Therefore e-discovery is an extension of the well-established process of discovery to any Electronically Stored Information that a particular organization might have. There are various reasons why corporations must proactively manage the electronic discovery process to avoid facing negative consequences such as data loss as well as enhance better storage of the Information. Most corporations govern e-discovery to prevent sanctions from courts. Electronically stored Information plays a vital role in the provision of evidence during the court proceeding and is thus critical for safe preservation and storage. Due to its intangibility in nature, preservation is useful and can help in preventing spoliation. Failure to preserve can lead to sanctions and courts may force the party concerned to pay fines.

Improper Management of Electronically Stored Information can result in confirming the destruction of evidence and thus making courts to give unfavourable ruling for the intended party (Smallwood, 2014). It is therefore essential that the organizations manage the ESI proactively to minimize on negligence, reckless and alteration of the information that can provide concrete evidence in judicial systems. Finally, it is also essential that Corporations manage ESI effectively to foster public trust and thus improving their performance. Information relating to the records management transactions and sale is vital and can help in creating public trust and thus enhancing the name of the corporation. This is typically depicted in presentation of ESI to the audience to persuade them on the validity of Information and thus building public trust.

References

Ruhnka, J., & Bagby, J. (2010). Using ESI discovery teams to manage electronic data     discovery. Communications of the ACM, 53(7), 142. Doi: 10.1145/1785414.1785453

Smallwood, R. F. (2014). Information Governance; Concepts, strategies and best practices. Hoboken, NJ, Wiley