Electronic discovery, or eDiscovery, is the process of identifying, collecting, and producing digital information for use as evidence in a legal case or investigation. This process is necessary because most relevant information, known as Electronically Stored Information (ESI), exists in digital formats like emails, databases, and cloud files. Discovery storage is the designated phase within the eDiscovery lifecycle where this collected ESI is securely held and managed. It ensures digital evidence remains unaltered and available for legal review and eventual production.
The Purpose of Discovery Storage
Discovery storage fulfills the legal requirement to preserve potentially relevant evidence once litigation is anticipated or begins. This necessity is formally triggered by issuing a “Legal Hold,” a directive requiring organizations to suspend normal data deletion policies for specified ESI. The hold mandates that the data cannot be modified or destroyed, ensuring the evidence remains intact for the duration of the legal matter.
The failure to properly preserve data can lead to “spoliation,” which is the destruction or alteration of evidence. Courts may impose sanctions, such as monetary fines or adverse jury instructions, against parties found to have committed spoliation. Discovery storage acts as a protective barrier against spoliation, creating a secure space where routine data retention schedules are overridden.
By isolating and securing the relevant ESI, discovery storage facilitates later phases of the eDiscovery process, such as processing and review. It ensures that the massive volume of data is narrowed down to a manageable, legally preserved set. This controlled environment guarantees that the evidence is ready for analysis and production when required.
Technical Methods for Storing ESI
Once ESI is identified as relevant, it must be secured using technical methods that maintain its integrity. One primary method is “in-place preservation,” where the data remains on the source system but is technically locked down. This approach uses administrative controls to prevent modification or deletion, placing a digital fence around the data without physically moving it.
Another approach involves collecting the data and moving it to a dedicated repository, such as a specialized eDiscovery platform. This data is typically transferred using forensic methods, like creating a bit-for-bit copy, to gather the files and their associated metadata. Moving the data into centralized storage streamlines subsequent processing steps, such as deduplication and keyword filtering.
Cloud-based storage solutions are heavily utilized due to their scalability and accessibility. These specialized cloud environments meet stringent security and compliance requirements and support legal holds and secure access for review teams. The underlying technology must ensure the integrity of the data remains verifiable throughout its storage life cycle.
Maintaining Data Integrity and Security
The primary challenge of discovery storage is maintaining the legal integrity of the ESI so that it is admissible in court. A core component of this integrity is the “Chain of Custody,” which is the chronological, documented record of who has controlled the evidence from collection until production. Every action performed on the stored data must be logged, creating an unbroken audit trail that proves the evidence has not been tampered with.
Preservation of Metadata is another fundamental requirement. Metadata, the “data about the data,” includes information like the file’s creation date and author, which is essential for establishing authenticity. Specialized eDiscovery software extracts and protects this metadata during collection, ensuring it remains associated with the content file while in storage.
Robust security measures are implemented to protect the sensitive ESI. This typically includes advanced encryption protocols to secure the data at rest and in transit, preventing unauthorized viewing. Access controls are strictly enforced, limiting who can interact with the data, and all user activity is recorded in detailed access logs.
Production and Disposition of Stored Data
The discovery storage phase concludes when the relevant ESI is ready for formal sharing with the opposing party, a step known as “production.” Before production, the stored data is often converted from its original “native file” format into a static “production format” like Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) or PDF. This conversion allows legal teams to apply endorsements, such as Bates numbering for unique identification, and redact privileged or irrelevant information directly onto the image.
Production also requires the creation of “load files,” which are structured data files that accompany the static images. These files contain the preserved metadata, text, and organizational data, allowing the receiving party to load the produced documents into their own review platform. The storage system must be capable of generating these standardized production sets to comply with agreed-upon protocols.
Once the legal matter is resolved, the final stage is the disposition of the stored data. This involves securely deleting the ESI from the repository or transferring it back to the organization’s long-term archive, based on internal retention policies. The Legal Hold on the data must be formally released at this point, allowing the information to return to the organization’s normal data deletion or retention schedule.