IGP E-Discovery & Litigation Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is a critical component that should be included in every legal hold notice sent to custodians?
- A list of all opposing counsel contact information
- A description of the matter, scope of information to preserve, and instructions to suspend auto-deletion (Correct answer)
- The estimated cost of the litigation and discovery process
- A summary of the organization's litigation history
Correct answer: A description of the matter, scope of information to preserve, and instructions to suspend auto-deletion
A legal hold notice must describe the matter prompting the hold, define the scope of information to be preserved, and explicitly instruct custodians to suspend any auto-deletion or routine destruction of relevant records.
Question 2: When scoping a litigation hold, which population should typically receive the hold notice?
- Only the executives named in the complaint
- All employees in the legal and compliance departments
- Individuals reasonably likely to have relevant information based on the subject matter of the dispute (Correct answer)
- All current employees regardless of their role or knowledge
Correct answer: Individuals reasonably likely to have relevant information based on the subject matter of the dispute
Legal hold notices should be sent to individuals reasonably likely to possess relevant information, determined by analyzing the subject matter, time period, and business functions involved in the dispute.
Question 3: What must an organization do to its records retention schedules when a litigation hold is issued?
- Permanently destroy all records covered by the hold to avoid disclosure
- Suspend the normal retention and disposition schedule for records covered by the hold (Correct answer)
- Accelerate the destruction of records not covered by the hold
- Transfer all records to the opposing counsel immediately
Correct answer: Suspend the normal retention and disposition schedule for records covered by the hold
When a litigation hold is issued, the organization must suspend the normal records retention and disposition schedule for any records that fall within the scope of the hold to prevent spoliation.
Question 4: The principle of proportionality in e-discovery requires that:
- Each party must produce an equal volume of documents
- The burden and cost of discovery must be proportional to the needs of the case (Correct answer)
- All ESI must be reviewed by at least two attorneys before production
- Discovery costs must not exceed 10% of the amount in controversy
Correct answer: The burden and cost of discovery must be proportional to the needs of the case
FRCP Rule 26(b)(1) embeds proportionality, requiring that the scope of discovery be proportional to the needs of the case considering factors like the amount in controversy, importance of the issues, and the burden of discovery.
Question 5: Chain of custody documentation in e-discovery is primarily maintained to:
- Reduce the cost of document review by tracking reviewer hours
- Demonstrate that evidence was handled properly and has not been altered since collection (Correct answer)
- Establish the business value of the information collected
- Identify which custodians are most likely to have relevant information
Correct answer: Demonstrate that evidence was handled properly and has not been altered since collection
Chain of custody documentation records who collected, handled, and transferred ESI at each step to demonstrate the integrity of evidence and that it has not been tampered with or altered.
Question 6: Defensible deletion in information governance means:
- Deleting records in a way that cannot be traced back to the organization
- Disposing of records pursuant to a documented retention schedule after all legal holds are verified as released (Correct answer)
- Immediately deleting all data when litigation concludes
- Purging backup tapes before any litigation is anticipated
Correct answer: Disposing of records pursuant to a documented retention schedule after all legal holds are verified as released
Defensible deletion involves disposing of records according to a well-documented retention schedule while confirming no active litigation holds apply, creating an auditable, legally justifiable basis for destruction.
Question 7: A privilege log in e-discovery is used to:
- Track the number of documents reviewed per day by each attorney
- Identify and describe documents withheld from production based on attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine (Correct answer)
- Record the login credentials for e-discovery review platforms
- List the names of all custodians who received a legal hold notice
Correct answer: Identify and describe documents withheld from production based on attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine
A privilege log itemizes documents withheld from production, describing each document's date, author, recipients, and basis for the privilege claim without revealing privileged content itself.
IGP E-Discovery & Litigation Management 2
Which of the following is a critical component that should be included in every legal hold notice sent to custodians?