Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM)
A widely used framework describing the stages of e-discovery — from information governance and identification through preservation, collection, review, and production.
The Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) is the standard conceptual framework for the e-discovery process. It lays out the stages that electronically stored information (ESI) moves through in litigation or investigations: information governance, identification, preservation, collection, processing, review, analysis, production, and presentation.
The EDRM’s important insight for records managers is that it begins with information governance — the better an organization manages its information up front (disposing of ROT and keeping records findable), the smaller, cheaper, and lower-risk the downstream e-discovery stages become. It is a companion to the IGRM, which focuses on the governance side. Together they connect day-to-day records management to litigation readiness.