eDiscovery & Information Governance

OVERVIEW

EXPERIENCE

NEWS & INSIGHTS

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Our combination of focused legal know-how and real-world business experience helps you protect your organization’s information, and balance the risks it creates.

The challenges and opportunities presented by information have never been more numerous or critical. These challenges are compounded by constantly changing international and domestic data privacy regulations, cybersecurity breaches, electronic discovery litigation issues, and costs and fines stemming from the long-term storage or premature destruction of information, no matter where located.

HOW WE HELP

With the global and national focus on privacy, cybersecurity, and discovery of electronically stored information, poor information governance can lead to steep fines and sanctions, liability, and devastating reputational damage. Fortunately, proactive information governance provides reciprocal if not greater benefits in cost savings, risk avoidance, and reputational enhancement associated with how organizations store, use, protect, and destroy the information within their care and control.

Faced with the legal, strategic, and operational challenges of information governance, clients choose us for practical and innovative solutions in proactive counseling and response engagements in the areas of eDiscovery litigation, data retention, privacy, cybersecurity, regulatory response, internal investigations, and data analytics.

Unlike most eDiscovery and information governance attorneys, the practitioners in our group dedicate their entire practice in this space and come armed with hands-on business and information technology (IT) experience. This combination of focused legal expertise and real-world business and IT experience positions us to provide innovative information governance solutions. We truly have the hands-on experience and legal knowledge to understand and appreciate the competing business needs and legal risks of creating, maintaining, and using information–the lifeblood of any successful organization.

Our risk-based approach is focused on the practical needs of our clients to balance the competing business demands, realities, and legal risks of creating, maintaining, and using information. Apart from being skilled litigators, our eDiscovery and Information Governance attorneys leverage extensive backgrounds and training in information technology systems, computer science, digital forensics and investigations, data analytics, and information security and privacy. Our attorneys’ background and training include Certified Information Privacy Professionals, Certified Forensic Examiners, Certified Discovery Practitioners, and a Certified Ethical Hacker, as well as degrees in computer science, mathematics, and years of hands-on IT experience in private industry. This depth of knowledge is critically important to our clients. It allows us to simultaneously operate at a technical level of with IT team members, as well as the CIO/CISOs, as well as the Law Department, C-Suite, and Board as needed.

We further employ our unique technical skillset to craft truly innovative and defensible approaches to electronic discovery and information management issues, leveraging the latest in predictive technologies, such as continuous active learning and artificial intelligence. Our focus is to aggressively keep the matter focused on the merits, minimize unnecessary costs, and to preemptively define the scope and narrative of discovery-leveraging technology and legal argument.

THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE

Our eDiscovery and Information Governance team is on the forefront of integrating data science and analytics into our offerings. Our group’s work in spearheading the firm’s use of data analytics in litigation and counseling matters has contributed to keeping the group and the firm on the cutting edge of the legal practice. Our groundbreaking work in this area has enabled the firm to obtain favorable settlements for clients, reduce significant areas of potential liability, and undermine class certification arguments.

eDiscovery and information governance is a complex area, and our team understands the issues at play from both a legal and technical perspective. Our attorneys are certified in quantitative and technical subjects like mathematics, computer science, digital forensics, data science, and cross-border privacy. In addition, we are committed to staying on top of cutting-edge new developments and training in the area to assist our clients in managing current and future risks of information technology innovations.

Our skills as technologists and forensic investigators also uniquely position us to conduct and manage cybersecurity threat assessments, as well as internal investigations, including matters involving potential whistleblowers, theft of confidential information, internal harassment or disparagement, and other related investigatory matters.

EXPERIENCE

Served as national eDiscovery counsel to a large US insurance provider, providing advice on various eDiscovery and records information management issues to develop and enhance policies and practices with due consideration of eDiscovery litigation risk. In particular significant litigation matters, we are also called upon to coordinate eDiscovery efforts including the preservation, collection, processing, analysis, and review of electronically stored information. We also provide advice regarding the company’s international records retention practice.
Reduced the costs of conducting discovery by hundreds of thousands through proactive discovery tactics that leveraged proportionality and the latest in technology assisted review tools, including Continuous Active Learning.
Represented a large company for eDiscovery in a US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil investigative demand relating to one of their products. Our team managed the preservation, collection, processing, review, and production of more than 400 employee smartphones, computers, network locations, and email sources. We negotiated with the DOJ regarding the scope of collection from smartphones, conducted interviews of all custodians, managed collection vendors, and developed preservation strategy and review methodology. Our review methodology unified various smartphone artifacts into a singular file per custodian, which maximized review speed of typically difficult-to-review text message data.
Developed a strategy for a class action with potential exposure in the hundreds of millions to convert previously useless voluminous data sets (that had been disregarded by former counsel) into analyzable information. Then, through complex analysis of the datasets, we were able to identify putative class members who employed subcontractors, leading to a successful motion in limine that reduced class size almost by half and reduced exposure by more than 50%. We also designed a methodology for analyzing driver-data involving irregular and voluminous hours/mileage data to establish that the actual rate and extent of overtime violations was significantly less than alleged. This creative and practical solution directly contributed to a favorable settlement after the analysis provided plaintiffs with evidence of fewer violations.
Represented a confidential client in a grand jury matter subject to secrecy rules that included rapid collection, review, and analysis of significant volumes of information in connection with a grand jury investigation.
Developed an internal reporting mechanism, data classification, vendor management, internal and external policies, and training for compliance with US Data Privacy Law and voluntary compliance with the US-EU and US-Swiss Privacy Shield Framework to enable data transfers in compliance with the Global Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).
Assisted an international retailer in the implementation of a customer loyalty, social interaction, and purchasing program that complied with GDPR and US state-specific privacy laws.
Updated and enhanced a pre-existing record retention schedule and policy, covering applicable retention requirements for a global pharmaceutical and medical products company to account for applicable global retention and storage requirements.
Performed a complex analysis and data visualization relating to timekeeping and payroll records and practices for a client in the professional services industry. The matter involved evaluating potential exposure pre-lawsuit filing, enabling the client to have insight into their data that they did not realize was possible. Our vision into the data and the related legal issues enabled us to work with the client to develop a cost-effective strategy for the client to leverage, which enabled resolution of the matter outside of litigation, ultimately avoiding millions of dollars in potential exposure.

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Our combination of focused legal know-how and real-world business experience helps you protect your organization’s information, and balance the risks it creates.

HOW WE HELP

THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE

EXPERIENCE

Served as national eDiscovery counsel to a large US insurance provider, providing advice on various eDiscovery and records information management issues to develop and enhance policies and practices with due consideration of eDiscovery litigation risk. In particular significant litigation matters, we are also called upon to coordinate eDiscovery efforts including the preservation, collection, processing, analysis, and review of electronically stored information. We also provide advice regarding the company’s international records retention practice.
Reduced the costs of conducting discovery by hundreds of thousands through proactive discovery tactics that leveraged proportionality and the latest in technology assisted review tools, including Continuous Active Learning.
Represented a large company for eDiscovery in a US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil investigative demand relating to one of their products. Our team managed the preservation, collection, processing, review, and production of more than 400 employee smartphones, computers, network locations, and email sources. We negotiated with the DOJ regarding the scope of collection from smartphones, conducted interviews of all custodians, managed collection vendors, and developed preservation strategy and review methodology. Our review methodology unified various smartphone artifacts into a singular file per custodian, which maximized review speed of typically difficult-to-review text message data.
Developed a strategy for a class action with potential exposure in the hundreds of millions to convert previously useless voluminous data sets (that had been disregarded by former counsel) into analyzable information. Then, through complex analysis of the datasets, we were able to identify putative class members who employed subcontractors, leading to a successful motion in limine that reduced class size almost by half and reduced exposure by more than 50%. We also designed a methodology for analyzing driver-data involving irregular and voluminous hours/mileage data to establish that the actual rate and extent of overtime violations was significantly less than alleged. This creative and practical solution directly contributed to a favorable settlement after the analysis provided plaintiffs with evidence of fewer violations.
Represented a confidential client in a grand jury matter subject to secrecy rules that included rapid collection, review, and analysis of significant volumes of information in connection with a grand jury investigation.
Developed an internal reporting mechanism, data classification, vendor management, internal and external policies, and training for compliance with US Data Privacy Law and voluntary compliance with the US-EU and US-Swiss Privacy Shield Framework to enable data transfers in compliance with the Global Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).
Assisted an international retailer in the implementation of a customer loyalty, social interaction, and purchasing program that complied with GDPR and US state-specific privacy laws.
Updated and enhanced a pre-existing record retention schedule and policy, covering applicable retention requirements for a global pharmaceutical and medical products company to account for applicable global retention and storage requirements.
Performed a complex analysis and data visualization relating to timekeeping and payroll records and practices for a client in the professional services industry. The matter involved evaluating potential exposure pre-lawsuit filing, enabling the client to have insight into their data that they did not realize was possible. Our vision into the data and the related legal issues enabled us to work with the client to develop a cost-effective strategy for the client to leverage, which enabled resolution of the matter outside of litigation, ultimately avoiding millions of dollars in potential exposure.

Related Trends

COVID-19 Litigation Toolkit