Guide
For attorneys and legal professionals navigating the complexities of litigation and regulatory compliance, managing the vast and varied digital landscape can be daunting. From persistent team chats in Slack to cloud-stored documents in Google Drive, the modern workplace generates enormous volumes of data that can quickly become fragmented and difficult to control. The stakes are high: failing to maintain a comprehensive and defensible record of this information can lead to costly sanctions, lost cases, and damaged reputations.
In this environment, relying solely on manual processes or outdated systems is no longer sufficient. Legal teams need sophisticated tools that not only keep pace with evolving communication platforms but also support defensible preservation and efficient discovery workflows. That’s where Hanzo’s products come in. Designed with attorneys and compliance professionals in mind, Hanzo offers a suite of advanced e-discovery, archiving, and information governance solutions that simplify management of complex, dynamic data.
This guide to information governance will provide an in-depth look at information governance—what it entails, why it is vital to legal teams, and how it differs from data governance. Additionally, you will find insights into how Hanzo’s technology empowers legal professionals to manage data with confidence and precision, reducing risk and improving operational efficiency.
Information governance is the comprehensive framework of policies, processes, and technologies dedicated to the oversight of information throughout its entire lifecycle. This includes how data is created, stored, accessed, preserved, and ultimately disposed of. A robust information governance strategy ensures that an organization has a clear understanding of what data exists, where it resides, who has access, and under what legal or regulatory constraints the data must be handled.
For legal teams, especially those working within highly regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, or government, information governance is not simply a matter of good practice—it is a necessity for regulatory compliance and litigation preparedness. With communication increasingly shifting to digital collaboration platforms, legal holds and discovery must extend beyond traditional emails and file servers to cover tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Workspace.
Hanzo’s products address these challenges by enabling comprehensive discovery and preservation of data across these modern platforms. They help legal teams stay one step ahead of evolving regulatory requirements and litigation demands by providing proactive tools that safeguard critical information before a dispute arises.
Information governance plays a pivotal role in multiple areas that are core to the work of attorneys and compliance officers. Noncompliance can result in severe penalties, including adverse inferences, fines, or case dismissal. Hanzo Illuminate facilitates the identification, collection, and preservation of data from collaboration platforms such as Slack, Teams, and Google Drive, preserving the integrity and context of conversations, attachments, and metadata. This context is crucial for constructing narratives and timelines that withstand legal scrutiny.
Regulations from bodies like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandate stringent data retention, auditability, and confidentiality requirements. Failure to comply not only risks penalties but also harms an organization’s credibility and operational viability. Hanzo Chronicle automates dynamic capture and preservation of web content, internal communications, and social media, providing a real-time archive that supports compliance mandates while maintaining evidentiary quality.
Disorganized data can slow discovery and review, escalating costs and increasing exposure to compliance risks. Hanzo Spotlight AI leverages artificial intelligence to help legal teams sift through vast data sets rapidly and accurately, identifying documents and communications that are relevant to cases or regulatory inquiries. This reduces review time, minimizes human error, and enhances the ability to respond quickly to audits or investigations.
A well-structured information governance framework supported by Hanzo technology not only reduces chaos but also improves legal preparedness, making it easier for attorneys to meet deadlines, fulfill discovery obligations, and maintain the trust of regulators and clients alike.
While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, understanding their differences is essential for legal professionals who collaborate with IT and data management teams.
Data governance primarily concerns the technical aspects of data management. It focuses on ensuring data quality, consistency, availability, and security. Tasks associated with data governance include establishing metadata standards, controlling data access, maintaining data integrity, and ensuring proper backup and disaster recovery procedures. IT teams usually lead these efforts, as their goal is to optimize data architecture and system performance.
Information governance takes a broader, strategic perspective with a focus on the legal, regulatory, and business value of data. It answers critical questions such as what data should be retained, for how long, under what conditions, and who is accountable. The emphasis here is on risk mitigation and compliance rather than purely technical control.
For example, an attorney reviewing communications around a corporate merger is not just interested in raw data. They need contextualized, chronologically ordered information that meets evidentiary standards. Hanzo’s platform converts disparate, unstructured data into review-ready, legally admissible content—bridging the gap between data management and legal requirements.
Effective governance strategies recognize the necessity of integrating both information governance and data governance principles. Hanzo’s solutions are designed to meet this dual need, delivering technical rigor alongside strategic control, ensuring organizations can confidently face audits, discovery, and internal investigations.
Successful governance begins with a clear understanding of current data environments and potential vulnerabilities. Legal and compliance teams should collaborate with IT and operations to develop policies and deploy tools that reinforce accountability and compliance.
The following foundational practices are recommended:
Unstructured data generated on collaboration platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Confluence presents a particular challenge due to its volume and complexity. Hanzo’s AI-driven tools filter out irrelevant content, empowering legal teams to locate and preserve critical information with minimal disruption to daily workflows.
For attorneys, regulators, and compliance officers, Hanzo’s solutions represent more than just software—they provide a strategic advantage in managing legal risk in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Information governance collaboration tools produce vast quantities of data at high velocity, often creating blind spots that complicate legal and regulatory reviews. Without effective governance, even routine communications can become liabilities if they are incomplete, poorly preserved, or difficult to access during litigation or audits. Hanzo addresses these challenges by providing tools that capture data in context, maintain chain of custody, and prepare content for legal review.
By adopting Hanzo’s suite of governance and e-discovery solutions, legal teams can expect to reduce discovery costs, accelerate case preparation, and streamline responses to regulatory inquiries. More importantly, these tools enable proactive management of information, transforming potential compliance risks into manageable assets.
Hanzo’s product portfolio delivers a robust framework for managing enterprise data:
Together, these tools provide attorneys and compliance professionals with comprehensive control over their information environments, reducing risk and improving operational efficiency.
In today’s digital-first world, information governance is an indispensable component of effective legal risk management. The complexity and volume of enterprise data require solutions that go beyond traditional record-keeping—solutions that Hanzo delivers with precision and foresight.
Legal professionals tasked with ensuring compliance and managing discovery must adopt governance frameworks that are as dynamic as the data they oversee. By leveraging Hanzo’s advanced tools, attorneys can maintain defensible preservation, accelerate discovery, and respond to regulatory demands with confidence.
Investing in information governance through Hanzo is not just about meeting today’s challenges—it’s about positioning your organization for sustained success in an increasingly scrutinized digital landscape. Contact us today to learn more.
