Stout conducted an eDiscovery assessment for a Fortune 50 Oil and Gas company.  The client sought an independent review of their existing discovery practices with an emphasis on identifying opportunities to further automate preservation and collection processes through Office 365.  Through information gathering interviews, Stout summarized findings and provided recommendations detailing enhancements to improve operational efficiency.  Lastly, our team incorporated the recommendations into a three-year roadmap outlining short and long-term initiatives intended to strengthen the organization’s people, process, and technology.

As part of this project, our team led efforts to:

• Interview more than 20 individuals spanning the client’s in-house and outside counsel, discovery group, and legal specialists
• Summarize and provide perspective on key findings and observations documented during the interview process
• Present prioritized recommendations detailing actionable steps to take with enhancing existing processes
• Develop a three-year discovery roadmap highlighting time, cost, and resource considerations to implement recommendations
• Certify the defensibility of the client’s existing eDiscovery process through a validation report to be used with future inquiries and with courts, as necessary

This assessment and presentation to the Head of Litigation, Senior Attorneys, Paralegals, and all Discovery Team members, resulted in the validation of the client’s existing discovery practices and the identification of actions to take to further enhance the program. The project recognized opportunities to increase automation and coordination across an already defensible and efficient discovery process and incorporate new technologies to reduce time and spend.