Director misconduct is among the most sensitive and complex challenges insolvency practitioners face. Whether it involves insolvent trading, breaches of fiduciary duty, or asset concealment, these investigations demand a structured approach to uncover facts, preserve evidence, and build a defensible case.
With growing volumes of digital data and increasingly fragmented communication channels, many practitioners are turning to eDiscovery to manage investigations more efficiently, while maintaining defensibility.
In this article we explore how legal technology and AI tools can support each stage of a director misconduct investigation.
1. Scoping the Investigation
Before analysing data, practitioners must first define the scope of suspected misconduct. This includes identifying relevant timeframes, individuals involved, and the nature of the allegations.
How technology assists:
- Cicero AI helps benchmark similar historical matters, offering early insights into likely timelines, costs, and risk areas. It also supports strategic planning by surfacing patterns from previous director investigations.
- RelativityOne provides a centralised workspace to manage matter setup, control permissions, and enable seamless collaboration across teams.
2. Preserving Critical Evidence
Preservation is critical, particularly when system access may be restricted following an appointment. Key materials such as emails, board minutes, mobile messages, and financial records must be secured promptly and defensibly.
How technology assists:
- RelativityOne’s Legal Hold module ensures defensible preservation with automated notifications and audit trails.
- Forensic workflows within Law In Order’s managed services support imaging of mobile devices and recovery of ephemeral data.
3. Collecting and Processing Data
Once identified, data must be collected from multiple sources including email servers, accounting platforms, messaging apps, and cloud storage. It should then be processed to reduce noise and prepare it for efficient review.
How technology assists:
- RelativityOne handles ingestion and processing at scale, with built-in de-duplication, de-NISTing, and metadata extraction.
- Relativity aiR for Review applies intelligent filters to minimise ROT (redundant, outdated, trivial) data. It extracts metadata, expands compound files, and indexes content for efficient searching.
- Cicero AI flags gaps in data coverage and tracks source lineage.
4. Reviewing Communications and Records
This stage involves reviewing communications and documents to uncover inconsistencies, omissions, or potential indicators of misconduct.
How technology assists:
- Relativity aiR for Review applies AI-assisted tagging, email threading, and clustering to reduce review volumes and highlight behavioural patterns.
- Relativity aiR for Privilege helps identify potentially privileged content early, reducing risk and improving review efficiency.
5. Analysing Behaviour and Building the Case
With the facts established, practitioners begin constructing a defensible narrative. This may include identifying privileged content, developing chronologies, and preparing documentation to support potential legal action.
How technology assists:
- Cicero AI visualises relationships and timelines to help practitioners uncover behavioural patterns. It also supports privilege identification and generates summaries with citations for validation.
- RelativityOne supports custom tagging and folders to efficiently organise key evidence and streamline production preparation.
6. Redacting and Producing Documents
When documents need to be shared with regulators, courts, or creditors, accuracy and compliance are essential.
How technology assists:
- RelativityOne automates redactions and applies quality control checks.
- SmartBundle streamlines the creation of indexed, paginated, and hyperlinked court-ready bundles – saving time and minimising manual formatting errors.
7. Documenting Outcomes and Lessons Learned
Each investigation offers insights that can enhance future workflows. Capturing key metrics and documenting outcomes strengthens both defensibility and internal governance.
How technology assists:
- Cicero AI tracks matter metrics such as time to resolution and review volumes and supports continuous improvement.
- RelativityOne provides reporting dashboards to monitor activity and track outcomes across matters.
How Law In Order can assist
Director misconduct investigations demand speed, precision, and a defensible process. With the right tools, insolvency practitioners can uncover the truth, safeguard stakeholder interests, and respond to legal challenges with confidence.
Law In Order provides fully managed, on-demand access to platforms like RelativityOne, Relativity aiR for Review, Relativity aiR for Privilege, Cicero AI, and SmartBundle, supporting practitioners at every stage of the investigation.
Want to see how these tools work in practice?
Book a demo to explore how eDiscovery can support your next director misconduct matter.
