The Right Interview Finds the Evidence Before Collection
Custodians often know where the useful records are, but they do not always describe those sources in discovery language. They may say the file is in a shared drive, a text thread, a project app, an old laptop, a personal cloud account, a CRM, a Slack channel, a Teams chat, a phone backup, or an email folder with a nickname no one else knows. Those details matter because discovery obligations attach to real systems, not abstract categories.
PowellPath helps counsel ask technical questions in plain language. The goal is not to turn the interview into an IT deposition. The goal is to identify custodians, repositories, retention risks, access paths, and overlooked sources before collection becomes expensive, incomplete, or contested.
A Data Map Should Show Control and Location
A useful data map identifies what data exists, where it lives, who controls it, how it is accessed, how long it is retained, and what is needed to preserve or collect it. That may include company systems, personal devices used for business, cloud storage, messaging platforms, social-media accounts, third-party vendors, backups, archives, shared credentials, and administrator-held logs.
Control matters. Some records can be collected directly from a custodian. Some require administrator access. Some require legal process. Some may be available only from a vendor or platform. Counsel needs to know that early, especially before negotiating scope, search terms, production format, or discovery deadlines.
Questions the Process Should Answer
- Which custodians created, received, stored, or controlled relevant ESI?
- Which devices, accounts, cloud systems, messaging tools, databases, and file shares may contain evidence?
- What retention settings, auto-delete rules, migrations, account closures, or device changes create preservation risk?
- What systems require administrator access, vendor export, consent, subpoena, or forensic collection?
- Where might duplicates, archives, backups, exports, or shadow copies exist?
- What sources are disproportionate, inaccessible, obsolete, or technically limited?
Missed Sources Usually Appear Later as Disputes
A missing repository may not cause trouble until a deposition, a motion to compel, a sanctions threat, or a surprise exhibit. By then, the data may be harder to preserve and the explanation may look worse than the original mistake. Early interviews and mapping reduce that risk by making scope decisions explicit.
The map also helps counsel avoid overcollection. If a source is unlikely to contain relevant material, if it duplicates another source, or if collection would be unduly burdensome, the reasoning can be documented. Good discovery planning includes both inclusion and exclusion decisions.
What Counsel Receives
Deliverables may include a custodian interview outline, completed source map, preservation-risk list, collection-priority plan, system-access checklist, and discovery questions for opposing parties or third parties. The work is designed to give counsel a practical map of the evidence before collection begins.