"¢ eDiscovery Case Law Update - What are the latest cases affecting your eDiscovery
"¢ In-House Concerns- What About eDiscovery is Specific to Corporate Lawyers
"¢ The Infrastructure Approach to Preservation
"¢ Mock Deposition - IT Takes the Stand
"¢ Privacy et. al.- eDiscovery for Transnational Organizations
"¢ Hot Topics - What is the Worry of the Month in eDiscovery?
"¢ Assets Feed You, Liabilities Eat You-Making Reactive eDiscovery Efforts Pay Off

The sessions emphasized the roles of legal, IT, and records managers in the collaborative effort to search, find, produce, manage, and protect content, especially electronically stored information (ESI) that is deemed responsive to a discovery order or to anticipated litigation. The tools, policies, and procedures needed for effective, cost efficient, and repeatable discovery were discussed from every angle

To me, as a records manager, all of the collective knowledge and experiences of the gifted speakers could be summed into one word "“ consistency!

While the value of well thought out polices and procedures is clear, the summit underscored the fact that policies, procedures, and processes are of little value if they are not practiced consistently across the enterprise. Organizations must ensure that every employee who may be potentially involved in a discovery are well versed on the policies and procedures and, just as importantly, that they consistently apply and adhere to those procedures.

In the Mock Deposition session, we learned just how critical it is to be able to:

"¢ Clearly describe the organization's records and information program, policies, and procedures
"¢ Provide proof that the policies and procedures are updated periodically
"¢ Provide evidence that destruction of data is performed as a normal course of business and in accordance with an established records retention schedule
"¢ Provide evidence of employee training and compliance with retention and legal hold policies and procedures
"¢ Provide evidence that all of the above, is consistently practiced throughout the enterprise

Organizations with a mature records management program, also have a vital records programs and disaster recovery programs. Organizations that may find themselves involved in litigation should also have programs designed to prepare and practice for discovery depositions. We learned that if you are being deposed, on behalf of your company, you need to be prepared to explain and defend the organization's information governance policies and procedures. You may not be able to successfully defend those polices and procedures that are not consistently applied and practiced throughout the enterprise.

If you were to be deposed today, can you articulate polices and procedures as they are practiced throughout your company today? Can you convince a judge that your company has operated in "good faith" when it comes to safeguarding and producing information required for discovery? Are your Information Governance policies and procedures practiced consistently throughout the enterprise? If you cannot assure a court that Information Governance is consistently applied, the consequences could be costly. Consistency is key.