Litigation Partner Fernando Bohorquez and Litigation Associate Alberto Rodriguez published an article entitled, “Reducing the Cost and Headache of e-Discovery with a Comprehensive Retention Plan for Electronically Stored Information” for the Practising Law Institute’s November conference, “Think Like a Lawyer and Ask Questions Like a Geek: Understanding Cybersecurity, Social Media and Mobil Technology 2011.” Rodriguez, along with Peter Chirlian, CEO of the Armanta Group, presented at the PLI conference, discussing legal challenges relating to “Big Data” – or the retention and analysis of vast amounts of electronic information.
Bohorquez and Rodriguez’s article stresses the importance of a well-organized and well-developed retention and destruction policy for electronically stored information (ESI) for companies of all sizes as they confront increasing amounts of electronic data.
They point out that the lack of a solid plan may lead to disastrous consequences. According to Bohorquez and Rodriguez, “A well-organized ESI plan accounts for the creation, maintenance, storage, and, when appropriate, destruction of a business’s ESI,” and “can also be useful in simply identifying ESI needed to meet legal and regulatory obligations expeditiously.” “A company without an ESI plan can be at risk of violating the duty to preserve evidence, federal statutes, state and local statutes, or administrative codes,” they continue, which can result in severe financial consequences.
Additionally, their article details the hallmarks of a robust ESI retention policy as well as current e-discovery best practices and software solutions.
While establishing an ESI retention plan will initially require an investment on the part of the company, Bohorquez and Rodriguez conclude that the investment will pay off in the form of a more efficient flow of information and through reduction of litigation-related costs.
Bohorquez’s and Rodriguez’s involvement in the PLI conference highlights the expertise offered by the firm’s growing e-Discovery and Technology Litigation practice group.
Litigation Support Manager James Bekier and Alan Pate, a 2011 summer associate, made significant contributions to the article.
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