Automated legal hold tracking lags, survey says.

• Position: E-DISCOVERY - Brief article

Most organizations are lagging in automating their legal hold management and tracking. The Legal Holds and Data Preservation Survey 2013 revealed that 53% of organizations today use manual/written processes for tracking litigation holds, while only 34% have automated processes. One of 20 organizations still relies on verbal legal holds.

In many ways, automating the legal hold process has proved to be much more efficient and reliable than manual options, resulting in a higher satisfaction level with the current system/process. Survey results showed that such automation increases efficiency as well as the likelihood of issuing litigation holds. "When a litigation hold takes more effort, respondents are less likely to proactively implement one," explained David Steinberg, the founding partner of the Steinberg Group LLC, which conducted the survey.

Those using automated processes are also more likely to observe best practices. Compliance with sub-processes such as issuing reminders, requiring custodial compliance, following up with custodians, and sending release notifications...