CUSTODIAN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20100250459A1
• Filed: 03/24/2010
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Andersen, David M., Mayer, Michael J., Miller, Emerson D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,721,227 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/105 Human resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for the management of custodians within an electronic discovery system. Embodiments of the invention herein disclosed provide for methods of creating, maintaining, and utilizing a unified custodian directory for the purposes of carrying out electronic discovery within an enterprise environment. By employing a unified custodian directory to manage custodians apart from the electronic discovery cases to which they relate, the custodian management system of the present invention promotes efficiencies in the field of electronic discovery.

Claims

1. A method for managing custodians for the purposes of electronic discovery within a network, comprising:

maintaining a custodian directory comprising a custodian profile associated with a custodian, wherein the custodian profile comprises information relating to a storage location in the network associated with the custodian;

accessing the custodian profile to automatically collect data from the storage location via the network in response to an electronic discovery request identifying the custodian.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian directory comprises a plurality of custodian profiles associated with a plurality of custodians, respectively.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian directory comprises at least two tables within the network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the tables are linked based on an identifier associated with the custodian.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the tables reside in different locations within the network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian profile comprises human resources data associated with the custodian.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian directory interfaces with a human resources database residing on the network.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian directory comprises a human resources table residing on the network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the information relating to a storage location comprises an IP address.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic discovery request does not identify the storage location.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian directory is configured to be updated continuously or periodically.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian profile further comprises historical information relating to the custodian.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the custodian directory is searchable via a user interface.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic discovery request identifying the custodian comprises an input through a user interface of information stored in the custodian profile.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

linking the custodian profile to an electronic discovery case record.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing the custodian profile in order to send a preservation notice to the custodian.

17. A method for maintaining a custodian directory for use in conducting electronic discovery within a network, comprising:

identifying a plurality of tables within the network comprising information relating to custodians;

linking the tables based on identifiers associated with the custodians; and

creating at least one custodian profile, wherein the custodian profile is associated with a custodian and comprises the information in the tables associated with the identifier associated with the custodian.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising.

copying the tables into a database.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the custodian profile comprises information relating to storage locations in the network associated with the custodian.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the tables comprise a human resources table.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the custodian profile comprises human resources data relating to the custodian.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the tables comprise network directory information.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the custodian profile comprises the information for at least one related custodian.

24. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

recognizing changes in the information in the tables over time;

recording the changes to create a historic record of the information relating to custodians.

25. A custodian management system for use in conducting electronic discovery within a network comprising:

a custodian directory comprising a plurality of custodian profiles relating to custodians; and

an electronic discovery management server in communication with the custodian directory via the network, comprising an input device and configured to interface with a plurality of data feeds comprising information relating to the custodians to manage the custodian directory.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the custodian directory comprises a plurality of tables comprising data relating to the custodians.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the tables are linked based on identifiers associated with the custodians.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the custodian profile of each custodian in the custodian directory comprises the data in the tables associated with the identifier of the custodian.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the electronic discovery management server is configured to, in response to a user entering via the input device information about a custodian, search the custodian directory and return the custodian profiles in the custodian directory that include that information.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein the custodian profiles comprise information relating to storage locations in the network associated with the custodians.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the electronic discovery management server is configured to initialize tools on a periodic basis to obtain the information relating to storage locations.

32. The system of claim 25, wherein the electronic discovery management server is configured to send preservation notices to custodians using the email addresses stored in the custodian directory.

33. The system of claim 25, wherein the custodian directory interfaces with a human resources database.

34. The system of claim 25, wherein the custodian directory comprises a human resources database.

35. The system of claim 25, wherein the electronic discovery management server is configured to record within the custodian profiles the changes that occur to the information in the custodian profiles over time such that the custodian profiles comprise historic information relating to the custodians.

36. A computer program product for maintaining a custodian management system in for the purposes of performing electronic discovery in an enterprise environment, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program instructions stored therein, wherein the computer readable program instructions comprise:

first instructions configured for linking multiple tables within the network comprising information relating to custodians based on identifiers associated with the custodians;

second instructions configured for creating at least one custodian profile, wherein the custodian profile is associated with a custodian and comprises the information in the tables associated with the identifier associated with the custodian.