Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices

CHAPTER 8

Information Governance and Legal Functions

By Robert Smallwood with Randy Kahn, Esq., and Barry Murphy

Perhaps the key functional area that information governance (IG) impacts most is legal functions, since legal requirements are paramount. Failure to meet them can literally put an organization out of business or land executives in prison. Privacy, security, records management, information technology (IT), and business management functions are important—very important—but the most significant aspect of all of these functions relates to legality and regulatory compliance.

Key legal processes include electronic discovery (e-discovery) readiness and associated business processes, information and record retention policies, the legal hold notification (LHN) process, and legally defensible disposition practices.

Some newer technologies have become viable to assist organizations in implementing their IG efforts, namely, predictive coding and technology-assisted review (TAR; also known as computer-assisted review). In this chapter we explore the need for leveraging IT in IG efforts aimed at defensible disposition, the intersection between IG processes and legal functions, policy implications, and some key enabling technologies.

Introduction to e-Discovery: The Revised 2006 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Changed Everything

Since 1938, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) “have governed the discovery of evidence in lawsuits and other civil cases.”¹ In law, discovery ...