E-discovery (short for electronic discovery) is a critical component of Microsoft 365 Purview, designed to help organizations efficiently search, identify, and manage electronically stored information (ESI) during investigations, legal proceedings, or compliance reviews.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the concepts, capabilities, and best practices of E-discovery in Microsoft 365. We’ll also dive into a real-world business case and provide actionable solutions to demonstrate its value.

What is E-Discovery in Microsoft 365 Purview?

E-discovery under Microsoft 365 Purview is a suite of tools that empowers organizations to:

• Discover relevant content stored in emails, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams, and other M365 apps.
• Preserve, search, and export data in response to legal or regulatory requirements.
• Mitigate risk by ensuring sensitive information is handled securely.

Microsoft 365 offers two primary E-discovery solutions:

E-discovery (Standard & Premium): Advanced tools for managing legal holds, case management, and in-depth analytics.

Content Search: For basic search and export scenarios.

Capabilities of Microsoft 365 E-Discovery

Export:
Export search results in formats suitable for legal proceedings or compliance reporting.

Case Management:
Organize data for legal matters into specific cases, streamlining workflows and maintaining focus.

Legal Hold:
Preserve data in Exchange mailboxes, SharePoint sites, OneDrive, and Teams to prevent deletion or alteration.

Search and Filter:
Use robust search tools with filtering capabilities to pinpoint relevant content efficiently.

Review and Analysis:
Use built-in tools for reviewing content, identifying duplicates, and analyzing communication patterns.

Business Case: E-Discovery in Action

Scenario:

A mid-sized financial services company is served a legal notice regarding a potential data breach. They are required to:

1. Identify all communications between specific employees over the last 12 months.
2. Preserve sensitive documents from deletion during the investigation.
3. Provide a detailed report of findings to legal counsel within 7 days.

Challenges:

• Large volumes of unstructured data across Microsoft 365 services.
• Tight timelines for compliance.
• Need for secure handling of sensitive client information.

Solution with Microsoft 365 E-Discovery:

1. Set up an E-Discovery Case:
   • Navigate to Microsoft Purview compliance portal.
   • Create a new case and assign relevant team members for collaboration.
2. Place Legal Holds:
   • Identify and preserve content in targeted mailboxes and Teams chats for employees involved.
   • Use the legal hold feature to ensure no data is deleted or modified during the investigation.
3. Run Content Searches:
   • Perform keyword-based searches across email, SharePoint, and Teams to identify relevant data.
   • Leverage filters (e.g., date range, user names) to narrow results.
4. Review and Export Data:
   • Review search results to remove duplicates and irrelevant content.
   • Export data in a compliant format (e.g., PST or CSV) for legal review.
5. Generate Reports:
   • Use built-in analytics to summarize findings and document audit trails for regulatory submission.

Outcome:

The organization successfully met the legal requirements, provided the requested data within the deadline, and demonstrated compliance, thus avoiding penalties or reputational damage.

Types of E-Discovery Tools in Microsoft 365

a. Content Search

• Used to search for content across Microsoft 365 (e.g., emails, Teams chats, OneDrive files).
• Ideal for initial investigations and identifying data for legal or compliance needs.
• Key Features:
  • Preview search results.
  • Export data for analysis.
  • Wide coverage (Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, etc.).

b. Core E-Discovery

• A basic tool to manage eDiscovery cases.
• Allows users to place content on legal hold, search case-specific content, and export data.
• Best suited for small to medium-sized cases.

c. Advanced E-Discovery

• Offers in-depth tools for managing large-scale or complex cases.
• Integrates machine learning and analytics to reduce the volume of data for review.
• Key Features:
  • Custodian management: Manage users under investigation and their data sources.
  • Legal hold notifications: Automate notifications to custodians about legal holds.
  • Review sets: Organize and analyze content before exporting.
  • Relevance prediction: AI-based predictive coding to streamline document review.

Key Components of E-Discovery

a. Cases

• E-Discovery is organized around cases, which are containers for legal or compliance investigations.
• Capabilities in a case:
  • Search: Locate relevant content.
  • Legal hold: Preserve content for compliance.
  • Review: Analyze and tag content.
  • Export: Prepare data for external review.

b. Legal Hold

• Prevents modification or deletion of content for specific users or locations.
• Applied to:
  • Exchange mailboxes.
  • SharePoint and OneDrive sites.
  • Teams chats and files.
  • Yammer messages.

c. Search

• Searches content across Microsoft 365 for relevant data.
• Filters:
  • Keywords.
  • Timeframes.
  • Custodians (users or groups).
  • Specific locations (e.g., mailbox, Teams).

d. Review and Tagging

• Allows reviewers to organize and tag content for analysis.
• Tags like responsive, privileged, or non-responsive help categorize data.

e. Export

• Allows exporting the final data set.
• Data can be exported in PST or CSV formats for legal review.

E-Discovery Workflow

Step 1: Identify Data

• Use Content Search to identify potentially relevant data across email, files, and Teams.

Step 2: Preserve Data

• Apply Legal Hold to ensure data isn’t deleted or modified during the investigation.

Step 3: Collect Data

• Collect and refine content using search and review tools.
• Filter based on keywords, dates, file types, and other criteria.

Step 4: Analyze Data

• Use tagging, deduplication, and relevance predictions to analyze and reduce data volume.

Step 5: Export Data

• Export the final data set to external review platforms for legal or regulatory purposes.

Licensing Requirements

E-Discovery capabilities require specific licensing:

Content Search

• Included with Microsoft 365 E1/E3 licenses.

Core E-Discovery

• Included with Microsoft 365 E3/E5 licenses.

Advanced E-Discovery

• Requires Microsoft 365 E5 or the E5 Compliance add-on.

Supported Data Sources

E-Discovery can access the following sources in Microsoft 365:

• Exchange Online: Emails, calendars, contacts.
• SharePoint Online: Documents, lists, and libraries.
• OneDrive for Business: User-specific files.
• Microsoft Teams: Chats, files, and channel messages.
• Yammer: Messages and conversations.

Advanced Features in Advanced E-Discovery

a. Machine Learning & Analytics

• Relevance Prediction: AI determines the likelihood of data being relevant.
• Near-Duplicate Detection: Groups similar files for efficiency.
• Email Threading: Identifies unique emails and eliminates redundancy.

b. Audit Trails

• Provides detailed logs for compliance and legal purposes.

c. Customizable Holds

• Enables customized preservation policies based on custodian or content location.

Use Cases for E-Discovery

a. Litigation Support

• Preserve and collect data for lawsuits.
• Use legal holds to ensure no critical data is lost.

b. Regulatory Compliance

• Demonstrate compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, or industry-specific regulations.

c. Internal Investigations

• Investigate internal incidents, misconduct, or security breaches.

d. Data Breach Analysis

• Quickly identify and review compromised data.

Governance and Security

• E-Discovery activities are logged in Microsoft 365 Audit Logs for transparency.
• Supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) and role-based access control (RBAC) to secure access.

Configuring E-Discovery in Microsoft 365

Step 1: Assign Permissions

1. In Microsoft 365 Admin Center, navigate to Roles > eDiscovery Manager.
2. Assign users the eDiscovery Manager or Administrator role.

Step 2: Create a Case

1. Go to the Microsoft Purview portal.
2. Navigate to E-Discovery > Core or Advanced E-Discovery.
3. Click Create Case and provide a name.

Step 3: Search Content

1. Add search criteria to locate data.
2. Include specific custodians, keywords, and date ranges.

Step 4: Apply Hold (Optional)

1. Place custodians on legal hold if data preservation is required.

Step 5: Export Data

1. Review and tag content in the case.
2. Export the refined data set for legal review.

Best Practices

1. Minimize Data Volume: Use filters and machine learning to avoid over-collection.
2. Regular Training: Train staff on compliance and E-Discovery tools.
3. Audits and Reviews: Regularly audit E-Discovery workflows for efficiency.
4. Documentation: Maintain detailed records of all E-Discovery actions.