Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Electronic Discovery And Litigation Support Services In India

Electronic discovery (e-discovery) in India has still to be considered as an essential part of analysis and investigations. In western countries, e-discovery is well adopted and used. Indian jurisprudence regarding e-discovery is still maturing. We have no dedicated e-discovery law in India. However, e-discovery laws and practices in India need to be developed because in future the same is definitely required to be taken into account for multiple purposes.

While e-discovery in India and its uses are still in infancy stage yet electronic discovery (e-discovery) services in India are flourishing. For instance, e-discovery and litigation services LPO and KPO in India have good scope as work and assignments from western countries is outsourced to India. Realising the potential of e-discovery related LPO and KPO services in India, many LPO firms are now exploring this area.

However, there is a practical difficulty for traditional LPO firms and companies as a shift to e-discovery and litigation services in India requires techno legal expertise. There are very few LPO and KPO firms and companies in India that can provide techno legal e-discovery services in India. This is also the main reason why e-discovery and litigation services in India are still in infancy stage.

So far, Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) is the exclusive techno legal e-discovery related solutions and litigation services provider in India. PTLB is also managing the exclusive techno legal digital evidencing and e-discovery centre of India.

In order to develop e-discovery related practices in India, legal and judicial fraternity of India needs a temperament for scientific knowledge. Further, technology must be used for legal and judicial purposes in India. For instance, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court of India till December 2011. In fact, we have a single techno legal e-courts training and consultancy centre of India managed by PTLB.

On the front of alternative dispute resolution as well India has performed poorly. For instance, online dispute resolution (ODR) in India is still missing from adjudicatory machinery of India.

E-discovery would be an essential part of adjudicatory and litigation services in India in near future. Adjudicatory mechanisms like cyber appellate tribunal (CAT) of India, e-courts, ODR, etc would further increase its use. Time has come to make e-discovery as an integral part of every organisation in India that deals in technology.