Industry: Energy/Utilities
e-Discovery for Energy and Utilities Companies
Energy and utilities companies face a variety of legal challenges, from environmental lawsuits to evolving government regulations. Investigation and litigation creates electronic discovery requests that can impact the entire organization, and involve hundreds of custodians and data sources across multiple locations.
Product liability, toxic torts and government investigations
Product liability and mass toxic tort litigation is an ongoing difficulty in the energy industry, and companies are also under increasing scrutiny to comply with environmental, financial and business practice regulations. Litigation in these matters can lead to a complicated discovery process, often involving multiple and varied venues, numerous custodians and widely-distributed data which consumes significant legal and IT resources. As the industry continues to expand and the resulting volume of litigation grows, companies must find ways to limit costs and increase the efficacy of the discovery process.
Electronically stored information across the organization
Energy industry consolidation through mergers and acquisitions, as well as global production and supply chains, has created a complex data management environment. Discoverable electronically stored information (ESI) can live in a variety of applications and proprietary information systems distributed across the enterprise and in diverse geographical locations. Creating effective policies and procedures for data retention, collection and preservation is vital in preparing a strong defense for current and future matters.
Addressing energy and utilities litigation
As the demand for energy grows and companies continue to globalize and expand their operations, managing ESI and assessing internal processes to prepare for and respond to discovery requests can be challenging. Fios helps energy and utilities companies effectively plan and manage the e-discovery process with robust litigation readiness and litigation response services. Our expert guides tailor a clear, consistent process and technical infrastructure to manage all aspects of e-discovery, with specific expertise in meeting energy and utilities legal teams’ need for efficiency, consistency and repeatability. Fios has the capacity and throughput to process enormous volumes of data quickly, putting time on our clients’ side. We also offer active matter consulting in all areas related to e-discovery — from identifying, preserving and collecting data to production, processing and review.
e-Discovery for Energy and Utilities Companies -- industry overview
How Fios Can Help
Fios has provided
e-discovery planning and response services to Fortune 100 energy companies. Our e-discovery readiness and response services >
Case Study: Preparing for Future Litigation in the Energy Industry
During a period of relative quiet on the litigation front, the legal department of a large utility company decided to conduct a comprehensive review of its internal processes for responding to electronic discovery production requests. The company was considering the purchase of a new content management system and needed a detailed evaluation of that system's functionality for e-discovery purposes. The general counsel was also uncertain about the company's ability to respond effectively to more stringent e-discovery requirements resulting from recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Read this case study >Recent Energy & Utilities Case Studies and Other Resources
A large, global energy company was under investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for alleged anticompetitive behavior and would soon be confronted with high-volume discovery production requests for emails and other relevant electronic evidence. Although the information services department had recently purchased an email archiving application, that "solution" was looking increasingly like an expensive mistake for the purposes of electronic discovery, and its shortcomings were ex
Concerned about possible misdating of stock-options grants over the past 15 years, the board of a major land-drilling contractor decided to conduct an internal investigation. Although the company had electronic data retention policies and procedures in place, some key custodians had backed up potentially relevant data improperly and caused the alteration or loss of important metadata, jeopardizing not only the outcome of the investigation but exposing the company to a significant escalation of r
It is well-documented that e-discovery consumes increasing percentages of overall civil litigation costs. There is an existing and overlooked approach to reduce electronic discovery costs available now.
Advanced Electronic Discovery
Investigations, windfall profits, rebates...the legislative and enforcement activity around energy companies is at its highest peak since the California energy crisis. In addition, new changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are coming in December.