Lesson 5 — E-Discovery & the EDRM
E-discovery is the process of finding electronically stored information that may serve as evidence in legal action. Chapter 9’s deeper lesson is proactive: e-discovery is faster, cheaper and more defensible when records, Metadata, repositories and retention were already governed.
EDRM sequence
- Identification — determine matter scope, potentially relevant information, systems, custodians, dates, locations and retention/destruction rules.
- Preservation — prevent destruction/alteration; apply legal hold.
- Collection — acquire and transfer identified ESI defensibly.
- Processing — prepare/reduce the set: format handling, de-duplication, filtering/search.
- Review — determine responsiveness and privilege/protection.
- Analysis — examine facts, timelines, relationships and evidence.
- Production — deliver responsive information in agreed formats with defensible traceability.
- Presentation — use evidence in depositions, hearings, trials or similar proceedings.
The process may iterate, but the order creates useful discrimination clues.
Key adjacent distinctions
Identification vs Preservation: find scope vs freeze/protect.
Preservation vs Collection: prevent destruction vs acquire.
Collection vs Processing: acquire vs prepare/reduce.
Processing vs Review: de-dupe/filter/search vs determine responsive/privileged.
Review vs Analysis: legal relevance/privilege decision vs understand facts/relationships.
Production vs Presentation: turn over responsive ESI vs use it as evidence.
Production formats
Native = original file format.
Near-native = converted/extracted form close to the original while preserving required content/context.
Why lineage matters
During production, defensibility depends on proving the produced information was not improperly altered and preserving its source/context trail.
Source: e-discovery sections, approx. pp. 301–306.