eDiscovery Leaders Live: Diane Diaz of McDonald's Corporation

Diane Diaz, Director, eDiscovery Manager, Commercial Litigation Practice Group at McDonald's Corporation, joins George Socha, Senior Vice President of Brand Awareness at Reveal, for ACEDS #eDiscoveryLeadersLive.

Diane Diaz is an eDiscovery Manager at McDonald’s Corporation. She has over 20 years of experience in the legal field, starting as a legal secretary and working through the ranks of paralegal and most recently realigning her paralegal responsibilities into her current eDiscovery Manager role. She supports the legal department and serves the Commercial Litigation Practice Group which handles, among other things, class action lawsuits, government inquiries, franchise disputes, real estate matters and third-party subpoena responses. On any given day, she manages over 60 matters that include issuing legal holds, interviewing custodians, identifying, and collecting data and sorting through boxes located in offsite storage. She also manages the eDiscovery and Legal Hold platforms for the litigation teams. Diane is a strategic thinker that ensures alignment amongst commercial, labor and tort litigation teams developing protocols that keep consistent and repeatable processes when collecting data. In addition, she partners with the Records and Information Management team on information governance ensuring that eDiscovery needs concerning incoming technology and data disposition projects are addressed. In her spare time, she enjoys taking HIIT classes and walking her dog, Kendall. Diane has been married to her husband Ed, for 21 years. She has two daughters, Maya, 19 and Marnie, 11.

Diane talked with us about her paths to and at McDonald’s. She discussed her job today, emphasizing the importance of delivering value internally. She talked about career development, including the significance of titles, looking beyond titles, and advocating for yourself. She discussed the benefits of involvement with industry organizations, focusing on EDRM, ACEDS, WiE, and the Illinois Paralegal Association. Diane ended with thoughts on the importance of family, at home and at work, and value of strong support systems.

Key Highlights

• [2:55] Diane’s path to McDonald’s.
• [4:27] Her roles at McDonald’s.
• [5:35] On-the-job learning.
• [6:49] How she became the person to lead eDiscovery at McDonald’s.
• [8:53] Delivering value.
• [9:55] Where they are now with eDiscovery and where they might go next.
• [11:42] Her career development.
• [15:33] Career development lessons learned.
• [16:37] How Diane plans to continue to develop her career.
• [17:16] How to find others to benchmark against.
• [18:49] How involvement in industry organizations can help with career development.
• [20:14] Top benefits from being involved with EDRM and ACEDS.
• [21:33] Taking – and passing – the CEDS exam.
• [23:46] Top benefits from being involved with WiE.
• [24:26] Top benefits from being involved with the Illinois Paralegal Association.
• [25:33] The importance of family.
• [26:50] Having a strong support system.

Key Quotes 

• “It’s going to help all of us if we align on how we’re collecting [data], where we’re putting it… Where I would like to see [us go is] controlling that process, so we’re all on that same page.”
• “[To develop your career] you have to do your research, find good solid examples of what you want … out of the role…. There’s more room for realignment on what we can do….”
• “[Being involved with the Illinois Paralegal Association (and other industry organizations)] has really given me an opportunity to meet other people and to really start to tell people what I do.”
• “My husband is my rock and my number one fan and supporter. I have two daughters who I want to make sure I give them a good role model… I never want them to feel like they have to just sit back and just do what anybody tells them.”
  
  

Connect with Diane

• Diane Diaz on LinkedIn