Common Issues Relating to E-Discovery

The purpose of this assignment is to have you focus on some of the common issues facing both public sector and private sector organizations relating to e-Discovery. Your supervisor at Blue Arrow Technologies (BAT) has told you that it’s likely that a dispute with the local city council will end up in litigation. The litigation involves a dispute over BAT’s design and implementation of records management software for the city council. The software was intended to assist with their public records requirements by means of a searchable database of data (location, custodian, type of data, textual content). The city council is claiming that some public records appear to have disappeared from the system and that the software has not reduced their eDiscovery costs as was claimed by BAT’s sales staff. He is asking you to help him prepare a report for your legal department and outside counsel. In your report, your supervisor would like you to address the following: What issues should BAT strive to avoid during its preparation for the likely litigation? With regard to the city council’s claim that some public records have “disappeared,” what possible reason(s) could there be for this? With regard to the city council’s claim that their eDiscovery costs have not been reduced as claimed by BAT, describe why this might be so. Consider both software design and end-user error in your answer. Discuss elements of costs related to eDiscovery such as data collection, processing, hosting, review, and production. (Hint: refer to the Sedona Principles).