WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced the results of its E-discovery in Asia: Legal, Technical and Cultural Issues study, conducted in collaboration with Asian Legal Business magazine. The report, which includes both quantitative and qualitative answers from 70 Asia-based law firm and corporate e-discovery professionals, uncovers a number of strong, but evolving e-discovery trends in the region. The report highlights challenges and practical advice for multinational corporations and law firms managing the legal, technical and cultural implications of e-discovery in Asia.

"E-discovery is an increasingly global process, whereas the challenges become less about data volume and more about jurisdiction," said Rod Sutton, Senior Managing Director and Regional Chairman for FTI Consulting in Hong Kong. "This study highlights more than 20 factors encountered in dispute resolution unique to Asia, and provides perspectives from leading lawyers regarding the conduct of e-discovery in this complex region."

Key findings from the study include:


    --  High rate of regulatory activity: Sixty-seven percent of respondents
        cited regulatory investigations as the biggest driver of e-discovery in
        Asia. These are a result of the ongoing enforcement of the U.S. Foreign
        Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act, as well as Asian regulators
        and company-driven internal compliance reviews. Further, increasing
        cooperation among regulators from different countries is expected to
        cause a greater number of investigations and e-discovery in more
        countries.
    --  Privacy and confidentiality are the biggest challenge: Managing data
        privacy laws and confidentiality concerns is the single biggest
        challenge identified by respondents, with 79 percent citing privacy or
        data protection as a specific risk expected to emerge from new Asian
        regional laws. When asked to rank challenges in running a review
        project, the top response was finding the appropriate technology that
        could support the intricate workflow needed to meet local data privacy
        or state secrecy regulations.
    --  China poses unique challenges: Almost 40 percent of those surveyed said
        new laws in China will impact the management of electronic data in legal
        review. One of the most impactful pieces of legislation will be the Law
        of the People's Republic of China on Guarding State Secrets, which is
        broad and vague and requires documents to be reviewed and cleared of
        secrecy concerns before leaving China.

"Global companies are turning to FTI Technology to safely conduct e-discovery within Asia," said Veeral Gosalia, a Senior Managing Director in the Technology segment at FTI Consulting. "We have extensive experience in the region, knowledgeable professionals on the ground, and employ global methodologies. For our clients, these components reduce the complexity of e-discovery in Asia and provide comfort that the process is defensible."

For corporations and law firms managing global e-discovery, FTI Technology provides a range of offerings to conduct defensible discovery in Asia. This includes local hosting of the industry-leading Ringtail software, as well as Investigate, a discovery offering incorporating FTI Consulting experts, equipped with Ringtail, to conduct end-to-end investigations on-site at company locations and in compliance with country-specific data privacy requirements.

The 2014 E-discovery in Asia: Legal, Technical and Cultural Issues study can be downloaded here. More information on FTI Technology, Ringtail and Investigate is available here.

Methodology
 In late 2013 and early 2014, FTI Consulting partnered with Asian Legal Business magazine to interview legal professionals in Asia on the e-discovery transformations underway in the region. Sixty-five individuals from corporations and law firms completed an extensive online survey, while five e-discovery experts participated in phone interviews.

About Asian Legal Business Magazine
 Asian Legal Business (ALB) is owned by Thomson Reuters, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. With its portfolio of leading titles, online services, law awards and in-house legal summits, ALB provides authoritative and unbiased insights and unmatched networking and business development opportunities to legal professionals throughout the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East regions. For more, visit http://www.legalbusinessonline.com/asia.

About FTI Consulting
 FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. With more than 4,200 employees located in 26 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management, strategic communications and restructuring. The Company generated $1.65 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2013. For more information, visit www.fticonsulting.com and connect with us on Twitter (@FTIConsulting), Facebook and LinkedIn.

FTI Consulting, Inc.
1101 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
+1.202.312.9100

Investor Contact:
Mollie Hawkes
+1.617.747.1791
mollie.hawkes@fticonsulting.com

Media Contact:
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+1.206.373.6521
kate.holmes@fticonsulting.com

SOURCE FTI Consulting, Inc.