February/March 2009 / Features
Managing the Production of Structured Data
E-discovery in large litigation matters has focused primarily on “unstructured data,” such as emails, documents stored on file shares and spreadsheets, but the production of so-called structured data may be-come more routine. Structured data is information contained in financial, transactional and operational databases that utilize software programs such as Oracle, Cognos, SAP and PeopleSoft, as well as custom applications. Some structured data may not be available unless restored from archives, back-ups or legacy systems.
Because it is a relatively new target in civil discovery, production of structured data presents challenges, from initial identification through production.
Five phases must be addressed when preparing structured data for disclosure: Identification and acquisition; preservation; processing and analysis; review; and production. Early communication enables the parties to agree to formats. With small databases, a full copy might be acquired by the technical specialists. With other systems, particularly multi-terabyte systems too voluminous to fully copy, targeted acquisitions may be advisable. Even in the absence of litigation, in-house counsel may want to familiarize themselves with the company’s major systems and identify the IT personnel who have the expertise to assist in the event of litigation.
