Because the potential of legal action always exists, companies must be able to ensure proper preservation of potentially responsive evidence – as well as quick and efficient access to, and production of, this evidence. With deep expertise in electronic evidence discovery and data management, the information management professionals at FTI bring together both IT and legal teams to build and implement customized data discovery and litigation preparedness plans for a broad range of clients.

Using a rigorous methodology that strives for a minimal impact on daily business operations, we perform assessments and make recommendations to help establish legally defensible evidence collection, preservation and discovery practices. Our team of computer forensics professionals performs a thorough analysis to ensure that our clients have adequate systems in place, with the appropriate automated tools to facilitate electronic discovery. The goal of our approach is to correct any deficiencies related to record retention and electronic discovery and to establish a procedure for efficiently responding to discovery requests – ultimately reducing a company’s overall electronic data management costs while reducing risk.

Our comprehensive approach to information management includes the following components:

• Requirements definition — Working with internal IT and litigation teams, we gather information about a client’s management of electronic information and existing policies regarding document retention. FTI advisors review and approve company policies, evaluating their consistency with company practices and assessing employee compliance.
• Situational assessment — The team of computer forensics professionals at FTI reviews the existing infrastructure with a focus on the entire data management lifecycle – from data creation and transmission to storage, destruction and preservation – for numerous data types, including documents, email, instant messaging, voicemail and VoIP. We also evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the client’s archiving practices.
• Recommendation report — We provide a report to management based on our findings, including a thorough gap analysis. Then our advisors help clients identify the right personnel for an internal electronic evidence discovery response team to take responsibility for day-to-day decision-making. When necessary, we make specific recommendations about software systems and vendor relationships, as well as help executives make decisions about outsourcing.
• Implementation plan — We develop and manage action plans to address the management of data, including information subject to legal holds. Not all data can and should be preserved – we can help clients identify which data are necessary to retain and which can be thrown away. Our plans provide a clear roadmap for understanding and correcting any deficiencies related to record retention and electronic recovery in anticipation of potential legal action.