The main objective of the identification stage of the electronic discovery process is to determine the scope, breadth and depth of electronic data that one should pursue during discovery.
The best way to tackle electronic discovery is to have a pre-existing litigation readiness plan. This should be a key component of every organization’s records management plan. Companies should create an inventory of their information systems and sources of data and determine their content, location, and accessibility. Sample sources include: enterprise servers, web servers, hard drives, laptops, desktops, removable media such as CDs, DVDs, USB devices, back-up tapes, PDAs, etc.
When litigation is anticipated, the litigation team first needs to identify the personnel relevant to litigation (“custodians”) and the types of data that must be collected. Litigation holds, which require the company to immediately freeze its usual document management and disposal efforts, must be issued to preserve all documents and data that may be relevant to the litigation.
