In a one-hour webinar, attorney Jason M. Shinn shared information on: - Company pre-litigation preservation efforts - Critical first steps for preserving evidence - Preservation issues unique to employment litigation - Limiting electronic preservation costs in response to “nuisance” discrimination claims - Preservation issues in a cloudy world: cloud computing and e-discovery You can view the entire webinar recording here: http://i-sight.com/e-discovery-tips-for-winning-employment-cases/

1. E-Discovery & Employment Litigation
The Problem of Treasure Troves & Karma
Jason M. Shinn
Attorney
jshinn@ebusinesscounsel.com

2. Introduction
Jason M. Shinn
Since 2001, Mr. Shinn has focused his legal practice on
employment law and counseling, primarily on the management-side.
He has also litigated employment related claims in state and federal
courts.
Based on this experience, Mr. Shinn publishes an employment law
blog, www.MichiganEmploymentLawAdvisor.com, that addresses
employment related matters relevant to HR professionals and their
companies.
Joe Gerard
Joe Gerard is the VP of Sales & Marketing at i-Sight, a leading
provider of web-based case management software for corporate
investigations. He’s worked with companies like
Dell, Coke, Allstate, BP and more than 100 others to implement
improved investigative processes that leverage best practices and
case management.

3. E-Discovery & Employment Litigation: The
Problem of Treasure Troves & Karma

4. “The reality of electronic discovery is it starts off as the
responsibility of those who don’t understand the technology
and ends up as the responsibility of those who don’t
understand the law.”
Craig Ball, E-discovery attorney

5. Companies Response to E-Discovery
& Employment Litigation
Ignore

6. Companies Response to E-Discovery
& Employment Litigation
Leave it to Chance

7. Companies Response to E-Discovery
& Employment Litigation
Planning & Strategy

8. Managing E-Discovery Risks
•Preventable Risks
•Strategic Risks
•External Risks

9. Risks Unique to
Employment Litigation
• Statutory Preservation of employment
related records
• Time
– Internal Investigations
– Agency Investigations
– Litigation
• Information Asymmetry
• Recycling/Reimplementation of Evidence

10. Limiting Red Ink for e-discovery preservation
• Clean house before litigation is filed
• Look for someone else to pay for it
• Explore technology options to reduce costs
• Ask your lawyer for recommendations and
explore their experience reducing electronic
discovery costs

11. Employment Practice Liability Insurance
& E-Discovery
• Review Policy.
• Is Endorsement /
Additional Coverage
Required?
• Insist to be copied and
included on all
communications between
counsel and carrier.
• Be cautious of efforts to
push preservation efforts
to your company.

13. Preservation Issues in a Cloudy World:
Cloud Computing and E-Discovery
• Control
• Contract and service level commitments
• Location
• Responsibility
• Timing

14. E-Discovery Questions to Ask Cloud
Vendors
• How would information be placed on legal hold?
• How can the information be accessed by various parties?
• How would the e-discovery functions of review and analysis be executed?
• Can data be reviewed without downloading it?
• What are the vendor's systems, data and backup procedures?
• Does the vendor ensure that information is protected and redundant?
• Is information stored on a shared basis or is there dedicated storage?
• Where is the physical location of the stored data?
• Who bears the responsibility and cost of information collection and preservation?
• Who would be held liable for a failure to collect and preserve the information?
• Does the vendor provide agent/employee to testify regarding preservation and collection
to further chain of custody and collection issues.
• How can the data be searched and collected or locked down?
• How long would collection efforts take?
• What format would vendor deliver the data?
• Continuity of business plans, i.e., what happens if vendor goes out of business?
• Retention periods?

15. Best Practices for Companies and HR
Preparing Litigation Response Plan
• Information Technology & Infrastructure Decision-making
– Include e-discovery assessment
• Create “Litigation Response Team”
– HR
– Management
– IT professionals
– Legal
• Training – managers, IT, HR
• Identify earliest possible trigger date for preservation.
• Document what steps taken and why. This documentation
should be viewed as both a risk management exercise on
the organization’s part and also an attempt to genuinely
meet the company’s litigation obligations.

16. Best Practices for Companies and HR
Preparing Litigation Response Plan
• Make sure lawyers are resource. If
not, question their value
– Lawyer jargon "relevance“
– Lack of solutions/recommendations for
preservation
– Technical Understanding

17. Questions
If you have any questions, please submit them now.
Thank you for taking the time to attend today’s webinar.
If you have any questions about the information covered in the
webinar, please contact:
Joe Gerard Jason M. Shinn
jgerard@i-sight.com jshinn@ebusinesscounsel.com