CLE - Legal Hold Management

Austin Hagen

Vice President, Operations
austin.hagen@proteusdiscovery.com

Austin leads the client services team, overseeing the strategy and execution of forensics, ESI hosting, and managed review. His 15 years of eDiscovery experience include project management, training, and consulting. Austin is responsible for process creation and documentation, workflow automation, and ensuring Proteus’ growth is geared to maintain the white-glove service Proteus clients have come to expect.

B.S., Computer Systems, University of Wisconsin-Superior, 2005
Brainspace Certified Analyst
Brainspace Certified Specialist
Reveal Review
Reveal Administrator
Relativity Analytics Specialist
‍Relativity Review Management Specialist
Relativity Certified Administrator (RCA)
Relativity Expert

Ryan Rieff

Director, eDiscovery Services
ryan.rieff@proteusdiscovery.com

Ryan leads our core eDiscovery services, including ESI processing, productions, and database administration. He is a Relativity Master, a feat achieved by only about 250 of Relativity's 250,000 global users.

Prior to joining Proteus, he worked as a document review attorney, becoming proficient in platforms including Relativity, Viewpoint, and Nuix and working extensively in first pass, QC, and privilege reviews.

B.A., History, Indiana University, 2007
J.D., Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2015
Relativity Review Management Specialist
RelativityOne Certified Pro (ROCP)
Relativity Certified Administrator (RCA)
Relativity Master

Gary Smith

Senior Project Manager
gary.smith@proteusdiscovery.com

Scott Collins

Senior Project Manager
scott.collins@proteusdiscovery.com

Scott has honed his eDiscovery skills while managing projects at Proteus since 2015. Prior to joining the team, he was a document review attorney with Black Letter Discovery, and a staff attorney in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s litigation department from 2012 to 2014. Scott has also worked as a law clerk and associate attorney for other Indianapolis-area firms practicing in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense, family law, and property law.

Scott’s practice involves regular management and delivery of eDiscovery and Information Governance services to a wide variety of local, regional, and national clients. He enjoys serving as an intermediary between clients, outside counsel, eDiscovery vendors, and document review teams. For over five years, Scott has engaged in various high-profile document review projects, including as a first line reviewer, a QC reviewer, a team leader, and a project manager. He has worked on projects ranging from medical device litigation for a Fortune 100 subsidiary to contract litigation for a multinational chemical corporation.

B.A., Mass Communications and History, Anderson University, 1999
J.D., Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2010
RelativityOne Certified Pro (ROCP)

Sarah Barth

Senior Project Manager
sarah.barth@proteusdiscovery.com

Sarah draws on a decade of legal experience to help her clients navigate large-scale discovery matters. She brings her affinity for detail-oriented work to each stage of the process, leveraging her background as first pass reviewer, quality control reviewer, compliance counsel, project attorney, and project manager to ensure her clients' needs are translated and implemented throughout the project lifecycle.

Prior to joining Proteus, Sarah's background included facilitating large commercial real estate transactions, global enterprise regulatory compliance, and class action settlement administration.

B.A., Social Sciences, Washington State University, 2010
J.D., Environmental and Natural Law Certificate, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2013

Sarah Whitney

Project Manager
sarah.whitney@proteusdiscovery.com

B.A., International Studies, Bradley University, 2008
J.D., Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, 2012

Darryl Durham

Associate Project Manager
darryl.durham@proteusdiscovery.com

B.A., Journalism, Columbia College Chicago, 1982

Travis Morgenstern

Associate Project Manager
‍travis.morgenstern@proteusdiscovery.com

B.A., Business Administration, Fort Hays State University, 2022

Ryan Short

Vice President, Revenue
ryan.short@proteusdiscovery.com

Ryan leads business development and consults with clients to design engagements that are right-sized with respect to services, software, and cost. He is a Certified eDiscovery Specialist and holds certifications from multiple hosting and review platforms.

He also leads commercialization efforts for DiscoveryMaster, a Relativity integration developed by the Proteus leadership team, now licensed to law firms, managed services providers, consulting firms, and corporate legal teams across the globe.

B.A., Telecommunications, Indiana University, 2011
M.B.A., Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 2020
Certified eDiscovery Specialist (CEDS)
Relativity Certified Sales Professional
Reveal Sales Certified
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O365 Legal Hold & Collections: Best Practices for Preserving and Collecting Data

With Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) dominating enterprise collaboration, legal teams must understand how to defensibly preserve and collect data within the platform. From email and Teams messages to OneDrive files and SharePoint sites, Microsoft 365 hosts a vast amount of electronically stored information (ESI) that may be critical in litigation and investigations.

Proteus Discovery Group’s O365 Legal Hold & Collections CLE provides legal professionals with the insights needed to navigate Microsoft 365’s legal hold and collection processes effectively.

Why Legal Hold & Collections in
Microsoft 365 Matter

Failure to properly preserve data can result in spoliation sanctions, adverse inference rulings, and ethical violations. Courts expect legal teams to place timely and defensible legal holds and execute targeted collections that comply with discovery obligations.

A well-known example of legal hold failures is the WeRide Corp. v. Kun Huang (2020) case, where a company was sanctioned for failing to disable auto-deletion settings in corporate messaging tools, leading to the loss of crucial evidence. This case underscores the importance of understanding Microsoft 365’s retention policies and hold mechanisms to prevent data loss.

Course Overview

The O365 Legal Hold & Collections CLE course provides step-by-step guidance on how to leverage Microsoft 365’s built-in tools to meet legal obligations. Topics include:

• Placing Legal Holds in Microsoft 365 – Understanding Litigation Hold vs. Retention Policies in Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams.
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• Data Collection Best Practices – How to defensibly collect emails, chat messages, and files while maintaining metadata integrity.
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• Understanding Microsoft Purview – Leveraging Microsoft’s compliance center for eDiscovery workflows, audit logs, and reporting.
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• Managing Challenges in Teams and OneDrive – Addressing pitfalls in preserving and collecting chat-based and cloud-stored data.
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• Cost Considerations – How licensing tiers impact legal hold and collection capabilities within Microsoft 365.

Real-World Example: The Perils of Inadequate Legal Hold

In DR Distributors, LLC v. 21 Century Smoking, Inc. (2021), a company was sanctioned for failing to properly implement legal holds on Microsoft 365 data, resulting in the loss of critical emails and messages. The court’s ruling reinforced the necessity of placing defensible and well-documented holds to avoid sanctions and ensure compliance with discovery rules.
This case highlights the real-world consequences of mishandling legal holds and collections, emphasizing why legal professionals must be proactive in preserving Microsoft 365 data.

Who Should Take This Course?

This CLE is essential for legal professionals managing discovery in Microsoft 365 environments, including:

• Attorneys responsible for litigation, compliance, and internal investigations
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• In-house counsel overseeing data governance and retention policies
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• Litigation support and eDiscovery professionals handling Microsoft 365 data
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• IT and compliance teams working on legal hold implementation

Master Microsoft 365 Legal Holds with Confidence

Legal teams must stay ahead of evolving case law and regulatory requirements to manage Microsoft 365 data defensibly. Proteus Discovery Group’s O365 Legal Hold & Collections CLE equips professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate Microsoft 365 discovery challenges effectively.

Interested in scheduling this course for your firm or legal department? Contact us today to learn more!