Selecting the right initial project(s), determining outcomes and measures, and preparing the business case are important groundwork for your Information Governance initiative, as discussed in Part 1.  But to secure resilient management support for an ongoing initiative, you’ll also want to tie the individual projects to strategic objectives for Information Governance at your organization.

Management support is crucial for success with Information Governance initiatives. This is not merely a question of initial project and budget approvals. Most Information Governance initiatives involve behavioral changes in how data is handled, and in many instances, aspects of organizational culture may be impacted. No matter the ultimate benefits, any initiative involving behavioral change

Charging Elephant

Apparently, today is Global information Governance Day. I frankly wasn’t paying attention, because every day is information governance day here. But no snark is meant by this – it’s good to turn such “occasions” into a nudge to revisit our perspectives and refocus on our priorities.

Our firm’s elephant icon is a nod to The 

Manually digging a holeLate last month in Mirmina v. Genpact, the Honorable Sarah Merriam of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut properly confirmed that it remains permissible to manually preserve and collect discoverable email.  Her opinion was concise and spot-on, swatting away the plaintiff-movant’s speculative “concern” that defendant must have “withheld communications” that were responsive to the case’s discovery protocols.  Citing Zubulake V, Magistrate Judge Merriam accepted defendant’s detailed affirmation that in-house counsel appropriately coordinated and supervised the manual search for reponsive email by defendant’s ESI custodians, and she therefore denied plaintiff’s motion to compel.

The ediscovery blogosphere lit up once the Mirmina ruling was handed down – see here, here, here, here, here, and on and on.

What’s remarkable about this ruling is that a singularly unremarkable point has somehow become remarkable.
Continue Reading Breaking news from Captain Obvious – it’s still OK to manually preserve and collect ESI

3d blue cubes come together from different directions. Dr. Stephen Covey reminded us that “important” is not the same thing as “urgent.”  Records retention reminds us that important is not the same thing as exciting.  I get it – records retention schedules are boring.  But the fact remains that literally thousands of records retention requirements apply to your organization’s information.  I know, because my firm finds and tracks these laws as part of our many years of retention schedule work for clients across industries.  And your regulators expect you to know them too.Continue Reading Why govern your information? Reason #11: Thousands of federal and state records retention laws apply to your company