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Preservation / collection / production

eDiscovery starts before the export button

Custodians, systems, retention, legal holds, search limits, and validation must be understood before data is moved into review.

eDiscovery record flow from source mapping and preservation through collection, review, and production
Custodians, retention controls, collections, review decisions, and productions stay reconcilable.

GDF supports counsel with defensible eDiscovery data preservation and collection across devices, email, cloud tenants, file shares, collaboration systems, mobile sources, backups, and specialized applications. The technical protocol is documented so scope decisions and gaps are visible early, not discovered at production.

eDiscovery map connecting sources, preservation, collection, reconciliation, review, and production
Reconciliation connects named sources and approved scope to the collection record, review population, recorded exceptions, and final production.

Preservation grounded in how the business works

A custodian list is not a data map. Relevant material may sit in shared mailboxes, project channels, departed-user accounts, local sync folders, text messages, business applications, archives, or third-party systems. GDF interviews technical owners, records retention settings, identifies sources at risk, and helps counsel translate obligations into executable steps.

The team does not decide the legal scope. Counsel approves custodians, dates, sources, and proportionality decisions. GDF records the technical assumptions and carries out the collection under that direction.

Collections that can be reconciled

Each collection records its source, operator, method, tool version, filters, date and time, time zone, errors, item counts, and hashes where supported. Exceptions are not buried. A reconciliation table shows expected sources, completed work, access limits, and follow-up items.

  • Remote and on-site custodian collections
  • Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Teams, Slack, and file repositories
  • Targeted mobile and computer collections under an approved protocol
  • Processing, deduplication, search, review-platform, and production coordination
  • Declarations and testimony about the collection method when required

Production choices trace back to the source

Native files, images, extracted text, metadata, load files, and redactions are validated against the agreed specification. Bates ranges, exceptions, encrypted items, and processing failures are reported. The goal is a production whose contents and history can be explained without reconstructing the workflow months later.

Build an eDiscovery preservation plan

Tell us what is disputed, which devices or systems may hold the answer, and the next deadline. Counsel retains all legal decisions.

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