Hybrid cloud computing technology

Hybrid work requires new approaches to eDiscovery

Summary

In today’s new world of borderless and hybrid work, forward-thinking law firms and legal departments are redefining their approach to eDiscovery.

As workplace technology becomes more agile, integrated, and mobile, obtaining and ensuring the integrity of electronic data in eDiscovery gets more complicated. Data types, volume and sources will continue to grow, and legal professionals must adapt.

In today’s new world of borderless and hybrid work, forward-thinking law firms and legal departments are redefining their approach to eDiscovery. This evolution has become an imperative — not only to mitigate risks but to help ensure secure, efficient and defensible litigation preparedness. Here are three key reasons why action is needed now.

1) Hybrid work makes data collection and preservation more complex

The mass adoption of hybrid and borderless work has resulted in dispersed employees working from any location or network and using a variety of devices and applications that may or may not have been sanctioned by the IT department. The combination of these factors can lead to challenges in the effective collection and preservation of electronically stored information across multiple environments — each presenting varying levels of accessibility and data types. And with the high chance of remote employees working on their personal devices, which lack proper security protocols and data protection software, organizations may become vulnerable to cyber security threats and data loss. 

2) The “next best” workplace technology often circumvents legal considerations

In the marketplace, there is a growing number of productivity, collaboration and communication platforms to support hybrid work. However, many of these solutions would not stand up to the legal and compliance requirements of eDiscovery work.  Use of such tools presents challenges to capturing and storing data in a safe, secure and compliant manner, unless proper protocols are put in place prior to its deployment.

3) Reliable and defensible data collection must remain the top priority

Organizations may be wasting valuable resources and costs troubleshooting issues associated with retrieving data in a forensically sound and defensible manner. While many remote collection applications have proven effective, the complexities of a hybrid work environment may require a combination of outsourced expert services, advanced forensics, and the use of powerful eDiscovery software. 

Now is the ideal time for law firms and corporate legal departments to improve eDiscovery workflows with intelligent technology that supports efficient and secure document review while providing insight, transparency, and cost-control. 

Ricoh solutions for the legal industry

With the complexity of today’s work, legal professionals are looking for reliable partners to navigate the challenges of eDiscovery in hybrid work.

Ricoh has been a trusted eDiscovery and Intelligent Document Review solutions partner for many Canadian organizations and law firms. For the seventh year, Ricoh has won the Canadian Lawyer Readers’ Choice Awards 2022 — voted the “preferred choice” for the legal process outsourcing and managed document review category. This recent accolade means a lot to us at Ricoh, since it reinforces the positive experiences of our clients and the accuracy of our roadmap for eDiscovery and intelligent document review services.

For over 20 years, Ricoh has been providing secure legal solutions to major corporations, law firms and government agencies by combining human expertise with powerful cloud and AI-based technologies to deliver exceptional results and value. Whether your firm is big or small, discover solutions that can help you improve workflows, gain intelligent insights, adhere to compliance and court filing mandates and more. Learn more about Ricoh’s solutions for the legal industry today.

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