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Overview

The litigation and discovery environment is changing very quickly as benchmarks like Zubulake, Coleman and new Federal Rules drive requirements, as electronic discovery becomes a routine element of litigation, as the universe of discoverable data expands dramatically, and as the discovery process itself becomes the target of litigation. Most corporations are 1) enhancing their processes for issuing legal holds and tracking collections, 2) looking for ways to reduce the costs of collecting, processing and reviewing electronic data, and 3) looking upstream to reduce the volume of unneeded data through better retention policies that are routinely enforced.

PSS Systems' Atlas software solution suite addresses these needs with Atlas LCC and Atlas ERM. The company is an early solution leader and a clear thought leader enterprise on retention and preservation strategies. Its unique suite of software includes specific modules for litigation communications and collections and enterprise retention policy management; the modules can be used separately but offer tremendous advantage when used in concert.

Why do we need retention and preservation software?

Substantive changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for discovery took effect December 1, 2006. In essence, they are the culmination and formalization of a series of judgments, sanctions, and regulatory actions over the past two years that focus on companies' obligations to preserve and produce information, and definitively end any perceived exemption for electronic information. The revisions to the Federal Rules formally address e-discovery and in the process, have made it a nearly certain element of litigation. For corporations, the rules place a very early focus on existing retention practices and the preservation and discovery of information.

Companies face significant hurdles to readiness, but the biggest challenges stem from inadequate or incomplete processes and programs for both retention and preservation:

1. No modern enterprise retention program that incorporates the vast amount of electronic information used and generated in the business
2. Late response to the Zubulake V and Coleman verdicts and slow to institutionalize formal legal holds procedures that include frequent notices, interviews with key players, ongoing compliance monitoring, and traceable document collections; or the company may have manual procedures that lack continuity, repeatability, or consistency.
3. The litigation department (and perhaps even the IT organization in some cases) lack an inventory or map of the systems used across diverse businesses, the data created by them, and the procedures and protocols for managing, recycling, and archiving that data.

Corporations need to have a reliable map of the disparate systems and data sources in the enterprise that is synchronized with retention schedules and legal holds. It should be sustainable as the business changes. Their legal holds process must be sound and sustainable to ensure preservation and provide an effective defense when challenged. Finally, companies need to unify retention programs across the enterprise and across data types and locations to couple them tightly with legal holds.

Without significant and systematic improvements in each of these areas, companies expose themselves to higher legal costs, risk of failure and associated sanctions, and increased litigation settlement rates. Operating costs across the business will continue to escalate for lack of a controlled and legal framework for disposing of unneeded business information. For companies that strive for best practices in governance, lack of adequate control, good process, and transparency on retention and preservation will prove untenable as verdicts and sanctions continue to get shareholder and customer visibility.

Why should I buy retention and preservation software from PSS?

PSS anticipated these pressures and the convergence of retention and legal holds so it has purpose-built, easily-implemented solutions that can address your critical challenges right now. There are no competitive solutions that address these same needs. Our Atlas solution suite provides the map you need to enable true retention and preservation. Atlas LCC is a perfect fit for legal holds - it meets the Zubulake requirements, offers a built-in process framework that simplifies your efforts and provides the defense you need. Atlas ERM ensures that the map of enterprise data sources and rules is sustainable and it unifies disparate retention efforts across the business to provide transparency and control. Together, these solutions ensure that you retain what you need to, dispose of what you can, preserve with integrity, and produce as efficiently as possible. Some of the world's largest corporations rely on Atlas to manage retention policies and schedules across their enterprise (and disparate business units, systems, and data) and to manage their legal hold and collection functions in concert.

PSS Systems is the thought leader and subject matter expert on these issues and their intersection in global enterprises. PSS has helped shaped thinking around preservation and retention through CGOC and its distinguished expert ecosystem, through active participation in Sedona and other conferences, through its innovative products, and through its customer relationships with Fortune 10 companies. By being at the nexus of the issues, we ensure that clients get truly on-point solutions today and that those solutions evolve ahead of the curve as the litigation and business climate change. Our solutions are smart investments now and safe investments going forward.