How to Prepare Employees Prior to the Litigation Discovery Process

Litigation has a tendency to throw everything in a company for a loop. It can take over operation hours but more concerningly, it can cause alarm for employees. Rather than hoping everything works out, it makes good business sense to prepare employees for what is to come. Being transparent can ease anxieties and reassure employees about the company. The discovery process can worry even the most seasoned employees at a company.

The only true solution for anxieties and concerns is preparation. A lack of preparation can lead to some feverishly deleting data from hard drives while others are blindsided when their laptops are taken during a collections phase. To help your employees and to have the best outcome, the following tips will aid your company-wide efforts.

Set the Stage from the Date of Hire

While it’s rare a business ever plans to become part of the discovery process, preparing employees for their digital data should happen on day one. This protects from embarrassment if a discovery process does happen but is also good practice for other applications, such as a hacking situation or a manager looking through the company-owned laptop. If a team member stores personal information on said laptop and then tries to delete their own personal files, it may be seen as an attempt to obscure the collections efforts in the event of litigation.

Create an Open Environment

To avoid potential sanctions or secondary collections, assure employees they can be open and cooperative. The team handling the collections is not working against the company and is instead trying to get the most comprehensive view and the most data for litigation. However, employees will likely not know that is the case, as hearing your data will be searched sounds scarier than it truly is. By giving them the overview of what will happen and explaining how they should handle it, employees can help the process along.

Listen to the Experts

It shouldn’t be left up to the employee to decide what needs to be shared as they have a limited view on what is being gathered. Instead, have an effective notice of what is expected of the employees and what type of data is relevant. Keeping everyone on the same page and following the instructions of those who know what they are doing will help to ensure the discovery process goes quickly and efficiently, taking less time away from the company and taking the burden off the shoulders of employees.

If your company will soon be subject to a discovery process, you need legal representation to ensure your rights are protected and the process runs smoothly. At the Law Office of Jensen Bagnato, P.C., our team understands the intricacies and anxieties of the discovery process. Contact us today to find out how we can help with impending litigation.