CUSTODIAN INTERVIEWS MAXIMIZING A VALUABLE OPPORTUNITY

Transcription

1 CUSTODIAN INTERVIEWS MAXIMIZING A VALUABLE OPPORTUNITY

2 WELCOME Thank you for joining Numerous diverse attendees Today s topic and presenters This is an interactive presentation You will receive slides, recording and survey tomorrow Coming up next month Data Sampling webinar

3 SPEAKERS Matthew Verga Director, ediscovery Strategy Andreas Mueller Senior Director, ediscovery

4 TODAY S TOPICS Why They Matter Who to Interview What to Ask How to Document Answers When to Leverage the Results Conclusion - Key Takeaways - Questions and Answers

5 WHY THEY MATTER

6 WHY THEY MATTER Three main reasons: Satisfying preservation obligations Gathering valuable discovery intelligence Disseminating important litigation information Satisfying preservation obligations Custodians are key information sources They know what exists They know where it is or is likely to be

7 WHY THEY MATTER, CONT. Valuable discovery intelligence Direct information regarding o Device usage o Software usage o File storage practices o Backup practices o Communication practices Relative priority of people and sources Likely content (form and substance) of sources

8 WHY THEY MATTER, CONT. Information dissemination Disinformation and rumor common Opportunity to directly disseminate details and answer questions Opportunity to ensure hold understanding and compliance Opportunity to get face to face with key individuals

9 WHO TO INTERVIEW

10 WHO TO INTERVIEW In general, three buckets to be filled: Key custodians Representative custodians Departmental custodians Key custodians Who they are Why they matter Priority

11 WHO TO INTERVIEW, CONT. Representative custodians Who they are Why they matter How to select Departmental custodians Who they are Why they matter Primary responsibility Actual knowledge (Outsourced function/department head by title only)

12 WHAT TO ASK

13 WHAT TO ASK Introduction to script concept Tailored to respondents Script development process Participants Use of templates or previous scripts as starting point

14 WHAT TO ASK, CONT. Who they are Identity, role, and connections What they do Activities, materials used, and materials generated How they do it Paper, hardware, software, and other tools or systems

15 WHAT TO ASK, CONT. With whom they communicate Internal and external, related to the matter, other suggestions How they communicate , text, voice, chat, paper, etc. Whether they understand and will comply Meaning of hold, meaning of interview, meaning of compliance

16 WHAT TO ASK, CONT. Device questions Computers, mobile devices, storage devices/media, etc. Usage and practice questions Software tools, file formats, local/network/cloud storage, etc. Departmental/IT system questions Backup practices, janitorial functions, search and retrieval options, etc.

17 WHAT TO ASK, CONT.

18 WHAT TO ASK, CONT.

19 WHAT TO ASK, CONT.

20 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS

21 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS Three main approaches: Conversational interviews with manual recordation Scripted interviews with formatted recordation Automated interviews and recordation Conversational interviews with manual recordation Simplest and most traditional, one-on-one o Can be started quickly and with little cost and allows you to speak with every custodian o BUT, yields inconsistent notes that are less useful and is time consuming when custodians are numerous

22 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS, CONT. Scripted interviews with formatted recordation Closely follow a detailed script Record answers in a structured way to speed aggregation and enhance utility Options include PDF forms, spreadsheets, and pre-formatted text documents o Yields more consistent, useful information, and multiple interviewers can conduct identical interviews o BUT requires more time and expense to start and is time consuming when custodians are numerous

23 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS, CONT. Automated interviews and recordation No one-on-one interviews Paper questionnaires, electronic questionnaires, or web-based surveys o Easily scales to accommodate numerous custodians, produces consistent, easilyused information, and custodians can be asked to sign and certify their answers o BUT requires the most time and expense to start and there are none of the peripheral benefits from speaking to all of the custodians

24 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS, CONT.

25 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS, CONT.

26 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS, CONT.

27 HOW TO DOCUMENT ANSWERS, CONT.

28 WHEN TO LEVERAGE THE RESULTS

29 WHEN TO LEVERAGE THE RESULTS Validation of preservation and collection Confirm assumptions made about the appropriate scope of preservation (i.e., what individuals, departments, and systems to include) or to adjust that scope, if needed Confirm that all relevant individuals have understood, are complying with, and will continue to comply with the preservation requirements

30 WHEN TO LEVERAGE THE RESULTS, CONT. Prioritization and organization of collection and processing Sources most likely to contain relevant data or documents can be identified and prioritized ahead of all other sources. Sources unlikely to contain relevant data or documents can be identified and excluded from collection and processing. The quantity and diversity of sources requiring collection and processing can be determined and leveraged to inform decisions regarding collection methodologies.

31 WHEN TO LEVERAGE THE RESULTS, CONT. Prioritization and organization of review The data and documents from the sources most likely to contain relevant materials can be identified and prioritized ahead of the data and documents from all other sources. Qualitative information from the custodians about the relevant materials can be provided to the reviewers to enhance the quality and efficiency of their review. Advance knowledge of privilege prevalence (and other content attributes) can be used to inform better decisions about who should review a particular set of materials and how they should be reviewed.

32 CONCLUSION

33 KEY TAKEAWAYS WHY Preservation obligations Discovery intelligence Information dissemination WHO Key custodians Representative custodians Departmental custodians WHAT Identity Activities Communications Compliance

34 KEY TAKEAWAYS, CONT. HOW Conversational Scripted Automated WHEN Preservation Collection Review

35 ENGAGE WITH MODUS Modus coming tomorrow with slides, recording, survey and invite to next webinar Visit us online at for more information on next webinar on December 16 th entitled: Practical Applications of Random Sampling in ediscovery Make sure to visit our website for valuable white papers, blogs and other information at Thank you!

36 Q / A