In my two decades working with legal technology, I’ve witnessed numerous paradigm shifts, but few as subtle yet impactful as the evolution of attachments. What once meant files physically attached to emails now encompasses a complex ecosystem of linked content, cloud references, and collaborative documents that exist across platforms.
At Array, our team has been tracking this evolution closely, and our findings reveal significant implications for legal teams and eDiscovery professionals that require innovative approaches to ensure complete and defensible collections.
The Modern Attachment Landscape
The shift to cloud-based productivity suites has fundamentally changed how we share information. Rather than attaching a PowerPoint file to an email, now we simply paste a link to the document stored in Google Drive, SharePoint, or other cloud repositories. This behavioral change offers numerous benefits:
- Reduced email storage requirements
- Real-time collaboration capabilities
- Version control improvements
- Simplified file management
However, this evolution introduces critical challenges for eDiscovery. Traditional processing engines were designed for self-contained files – not interconnected document ecosystems with dynamic relationships.
The eDiscovery Blind Spot
Imagine this scenario: a key custodian sends an email stating, “Please review the financial projections I’ve shared.” The email contains only a Google Drive link. During collection, the link is captured as text, but the document it points to—containing crucial financial data central to the case—is never collected.
This scenario is far from hypothetical. In consulting with numerous organizations, I’ve repeatedly seen these linked documents fall through the cracks during collection. Our analysis reveals that up to 35% of relevant evidence in modern communications exists not as traditional attachments but as linked references. When these links break during collection or processing, critical context is lost, creating what we call an “evidence blind spot.”
This blind spot creates several significant risks:
- Incomplete Collections: When links are processed as mere text rather than navigable pathways to content, the referenced documents may never enter the collection.
- Broken Relationships: The parent-child relationship between an email and its linked document can be lost without proper handling.
- Reviewer Inefficiency: Without maintained relationships, review teams must manually piece together document families, dramatically increasing review time and costs.
- Defensibility Challenges: Opposing counsel may challenge the completeness of productions when modern attachments are improperly handled.
Courts increasingly expect legal teams to address modern data types comprehensively. In recent cases, judges have expressed little patience for arguments that linked documents were “too difficult” to collect or produce properly. The standard of reasonable effort now includes maintaining document relationships across cloud platforms.
The Technology Gap
Traditional eDiscovery tools were not designed for this new paradigm. Most processing engines treat a link simply as text within the body of an email, rather than recognizing it as a pointer to potentially relevant content. This technology gap has created inefficiencies that ripple throughout the eDiscovery lifecycle:
- Additional processing time to manually track down referenced documents
- Increased review costs due to broken document families
- Higher quality control burden to verify complete collections
- Elevated risk of missing critical evidence
The technical challenges stem from several factors:
- Different platforms use different link formats and structures
- Access permissions to linked documents may change over time
- Version tracking becomes complex when documents are continually edited
- Cross-platform references (SharePoint linking to Slack, which references a Teams document) create multi-tier dependencies
Bridging the Gap: Modern Solutions for Modern Attachments
Forward-thinking technology teams are developing innovative approaches to address these challenges. Advanced solutions now offer:
- Automated Link Detection: Intelligent algorithms that identify and classify various types of document links across platforms using pattern recognition and contextual analysis. These systems can differentiate between a simple web URL and a document reference link requiring preservation.
- Relationship Maintenance: Technologies that preserve the connection between communications and their linked content throughout the eDiscovery lifecycle by creating persistent identifiers that maintain family relationships even when documents are exported to different platforms.
- Processing Integration: Seamless workflows that automatically process both traditional and modern attachments without manual intervention, using API connections to cloud repositories to capture linked content at the time of collection.
- Comprehensive Reporting: Documentation of linked content for defensibility and completeness verification, including detailed logs showing collection timestamps, access information, and version history of linked documents.
Building a Modern Attachment Strategy
For legal teams navigating this evolving landscape, developing a modern attachment strategy is essential. Consider these best practices:
- Early Assessment: Identify potential modern attachment sources during custodian interviews and data mapping. Ask specifically about cloud storage usage patterns and document sharing preferences.
- Clear Protocols: Establish specific procedures for handling various types of links and cloud references. Document your approach to modern attachments in your collection methodology.
- Provider Capabilities: Evaluate your eDiscovery provider’s ability to process, maintain, and produce modern attachments properly. Ask for specific examples of how they’ve handled similar challenges.
- Documentation: Maintain detailed records of how modern attachments were handled to support defensibility. This should include your technical approach, validation testing, and quality control measures.
The Future of Attachments
As collaborative tools continue to evolve, the complexity of document relationships will only increase. We’re already seeing the emergence of new challenges with platforms like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and collaborative project management tools where document relationships span multiple applications and repositories.
Staying ahead of these trends requires ongoing education, technology innovation, and process refinement. The organizations that adapt most effectively will gain significant advantages in efficiency, cost management, and litigation outcomes.
Taking the Next Step
Are you struggling with modern attachments in your projects? I invite you to reach out for a modern attachment assessment. Our team can evaluate your current collection processes, identify potential blind spots, and demonstrate how innovative solutions can strengthen your approach to linked content.
Whether you’re dealing with Google Drive links, SharePoint references, or other collaborative platforms, we can help you navigate this evolving landscape to ensure complete, defensible collections while reducing review time and costs.
Christine Porras, Director of Technology Solutions
Christine brings over two decades of experience in the legal industry to her role. She has made significant contributions to AmLaw 100 law firms, service providers, and corporations throughout her career. Christine’s expertise lies in optimizing legal processes through a combination of litigation support, workflow management, and strategic technology integration. She is adept at vetting and onboarding cutting-edge legal technology solutions, fostering strong relationships with software partners, and seamlessly integrating workflows to maximize efficiency. With her deep understanding of the legal technology landscape and her commitment to driving innovation, Christine is well-positioned to guide organizations through the transformative changes reshaping the legal industry.
