Sidebar: Steps to E-Discovery Success

The challenge of e-discovery is "very acute and still very fluid," according to Tom Greene, special assistant attorney general for the California Office of the Attorney General. But there are some general practices government agencies ought to consider:

· Establish the relationship between general counsel staff and IT. Get IT, legal and executives together to write an action plan.
· E-mail ought to be the highest priority. Agency officials have to start looking at what is and isn't potential fodder for a plaintiff attorney.
· Decide what data can be destroyed and what may put an agency at risk.
· Take a hard look at the budget, and if possible, secure a few dollars. Even a modest technology application for document management can make a big difference.