In-House Legal Departments: Your Ally in Information Governance

There is often significant overlap between the issues information governance (IG) projects aim to address and those faced by organizational legal departments. Consider legacy data remediation, streamlining e-discovery, complaint retention and defensible legal hold as just a few examples.

With so much overlap, effective collaboration between in-house data and legal teams can create quick wins for IG projects. Here are six practical steps to make that happen:

Get the Facts

Know where the organization's data resides and the rules and obligations that apply to it. Prioritize remediation by data mapping areas of the business that may face litigation. Work with key stakeholders to determine where the data sits, how data is used and where data flows.

Get Sponsorship

Information governance initiatives cross stakeholder domains and require collaboration across many departments. Leverage the legal department’s favourable position to advocate IG policies and persuade c-suite executives and other organizational stakeholders to fund and action IG initiatives.

Align Policies and Standards

Review the organization’s data policies and standards, including records management, information security, data protection and backup policies and legal holds. Address information obligations holistically and assign clear roles and responsibilities.

Align Enterprise-Wide Processes

Break the silo and incorporate IG policies and practices into other enterprise-wide processes. For example, collaborate with IT optimization programmes to holistically address retention, privacy, security and litigation requirements.

Build a Roadmap

Define the scope of IG projects and create a realistic action plan that fits the organization's culture and technology resources. This will help to ensure effective roll out of IG initiatives.

Start Now

The costs and risks associated with information governance grow exponentially the longer businesses put it off. Don't try to achieve perfection out of the starting blocks – start now and take measured steps towards your goal.

Tomorrow’s technology is shaping business today. To learn more about how MNP can help you improve your information governance initiatives, contact John Desborough, Director Consulting and Technology Solutions at [email protected]