Information Governance Creates Opportunities in Asia

As the amount of data and the number of content sources grow due to the globalization of business, lawyers proficient in e-discovery processes, information governance and their enabling technologies can look to the Asia Pacific region for business opportunities.

Compliance is a main business driver for archiving data in Asia, but the technology that accomplishes compliance can also facilitate litigation readiness. This is evidenced by recent cases like E.I. du Pont de Nemours v. Kolon Industries, in the Eastern District of Virginia. The court ruled against Kolon, a South Korean manufacturer, for failure to issue a timely and proper litigation hold, which resulted in the spoliation of key evidence. The court found the destruction of relevant data to be the fault of company attorneys, reasoning that they could have prevented spoliation with an effective hold process.

Asian companies in some respects approach information governance with a blank slate, the author suggests. Without the legacy technologies of U.S. companies, they have the opportunity to establish a broad information governance plan from the start, one that does not hinge exclusively on litigation.

U.S. practitioners may be uniquely situated to help them do it. The author advises attorneys who want to acquire Asian clients to target heavily regulated companies such as banks and pharmaceutical houses that have large amounts of data and do business in the United States. She suggests teaming with local counsel, consulting organizations or vendors.