In our last article we reminded readers that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP 1) is the lodestar for eData lawyers, that directs parties and courts to use the rules to “secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.” FRCP 1 does not simply suggest that we endeavor to be rational and practical during discovery, it demands it. We proposed to use our next series of articles as a refresher on the fundamentals of discovery and the importance of reasonableness that should guide practitioners and inform best practices in every aspect of a discovery, and Information Governance (or IG) practice. In that first article, we reviewed the fundamentals of data preservation for discovery and covered some legal-hold best practices.

We turn now to one of the most practical and rational ways an organization can impose reasonableness on the discovery process—Information Governance. Information Governance is a broad practice that determines the manner and means of organizing and managing an organization’s information in the ordinary course of business. Our IG practice, for example, assists clients in the development of policies and practices for every stage of the information life cycle and advises those clients on a wide array of legal issues and risks that arise at each stage. Information Governance covers information from creation through disposition, with information security, privacy, acceptable use, retention and discovery sandwiched in between. Investment in good IG yields many benefits, including enhancing an organization’s ability to secure and control its information; improving search, retrieval, use, and leverage of information; and reducing the proliferation of junk data that creates corrosive information noise throughout the business. For our purposes it also impacts future e-discovery obligations in a way no other investment can by delivering defensibility, efficiency, and command of an organization’s data landscape that leads to far more favorable outcomes in the push/pull of discovery strategy.

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