Legal Case Management

Overview | Benefits

According to an independent survey commissioned in 2005 by Fulbright & Jaworski, electronic discovery is the number one litigation-related issue for companies with revenues over $100 million. With costs associated with e-discovery continuing to rise and in light of the proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, organizations should consider modifying their electronic records management processes for e-discovery.

A number of independent reports have shown that the majority of companies have failed to implement electronic document retention programs, relying instead on back-up systems and leaving the management of records in the hands of end users. In this environment, the process of electronic discovery and an organization's duty to preserve is at risk and can incur significant avoidable costs.

Case law suggests that enforcement of a company's duty to preserve is more important than ever to gain a successful case outcome, but it is just one of several challenges corporate counsel faces when considering electronic records management. These challenges include:

• Long, protracted searches that involve multiple departments and high costs
• Ever- de creasing turnaround requirements imposed by courts as they become aware of technology to facilitate the discovery process
• Increased potential of exposing sensitive personal and organizational information during the course of the investigation
• Inability to guarantee electronic record retention and disposition policies are adhered to when control is in the hands of end users
• Inability to definitively establish the trustworthiness of electronic records

With AXS-One Case Management™, as well as AXS-One Active Case Management , corporate counsel has the tools to overcome these challenges. As an integrated component of AXS-One Retention Manager ™, the entire discovery process – search, retrieval, review and production – is performed across a central repository of enterprise-wide electronic records including e-mail, instant messages, desktop documents, ERP data like SAP, system reports, and voicemail. Searches that once took several people, across multiple departments, days, weeks or months to achieve, can now be done by a single investigator in minutes. Throughout the process, sensitive information is protected by a robust security architecture. Case files can be created that are automatically updated and appended with new data from the archive server, to respond to ongoing investigations, audits or legal proceedings efficiently and securely . Litigation holds can be placed on specific records to suspend normal retention cycles, and ensuring hold orders are correctly managed and audited. Case records can be reviewed individually or in bulk. Once the investigation is complete, case records can be automatically packaged for production together with an audit report that validates record trustworthiness and establishes a full process chain of custody.

More >>