Ask any litigation support team why a mobile collection blew past its deadline and the answer is rarely a technical one. The tools worked. The data was there. What broke down was the human side of the process: the custodian.
Custodians are routinely asked to hand over personal devices, ship hardware across the country, or go days without their phones. Most of them do not fully understand why, what will be collected, or what happens to their personal data. That uncertainty creates hesitation, and hesitation compounds fast. Delayed responses turn into missed deadlines. Missed deadlines turn into escalations, incomplete collections, and legal costs nobody budgeted for.
Here is the part most teams miss: custodian resistance is predictable, which means it is also preventable. The difference between a collection that closes in days and one that drags on for weeks usually comes down to how, and how early, the custodian was communicated with. What were they told about the process? Did the outreach address privacy up front? Did it come from the right person, in the right tone, at the right time?
ModeOne has published a guide that walks through exactly where custodian communication breaks down and why it matters to the outcome of your matter. It goes beyond diagnosis: the download includes customizable custodian outreach templates your team can adapt and put to work on the next collection, so you are not drafting from scratch under deadline pressure.
If mobile collections in your matters keep hitting the same wall, the fix may not be a new tool. It may be a better first email.
Download “Why Custodian Communication Breaks Down and Why It Matters“.