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1. 28-08-2008 11:24

I work for a law firm and my team and our attorneys are very involved in this issue. In fact, we have a team of both attorneys and technology consultants who work together with our clients to try to address exactly the issue you mention. We are very familiar with the problem since we tackled it for our own systems beginning back in 2002 when we started dealing with email management. 
 
What I find to be the largest obstacle for most technology projects, and this one is no different, is that people do not want to change their work habits. In order to truly succeed at implementing a good records/document/email management system, people will need to change their processes. The key to success can usually be found in having the legal team and the technology team work together to gain buy-in for those changes. It can't be something that is mandated through systems or by the technology team. Like many other systems we manage, we provide the tools for the work, not the work. For example, we provide accounting systems, but the accountants have to use them well. We provide resource management systems, but the users have to use them properly. In the e-discovery world, we can provide the tools, but the users will need to learn how to use them properly. Our biggest challenge, as always, is to ensure the business process is good. Then the technical challenges are much easier.  
 
The good news is that the same processes that will work for e-discovery will also help us manage our systems. How many technology departments have wanted to control the wildly expanding size of email storage? By implementing good categorization and archiving policies for e-discovery purposes, we also gain the benefits of better system management. While the e-discovery management issue can be difficult, in the long run it can also be a win for other technology initiatives.

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