Legal and information technology departments need to work hand-in-hand when responding to litigation and regulatory investigations. Just because they are on the same team, doesn't mean they are on the same page.

A mere 8 percent of executives believe those departments fully understand each other, according to a new Deloitte poll that surveyed 990 business professionals from a variety of industries. Nearly 20 percent of respondents said their organizations' IT and legal teams do not collaborate well.

Asked whether the experience of a chief information officer and general counsel enabled them to bridge the gap, 20 percent of those surveyed said neither understands the other's field; 4.5 percent said their CIO has some knowledge of the law, while nearly 6 percent said their GC has some knowledge of technology.

Mark Michels, a director in the discovery practice for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, says complex efforts to locate, collect, preserve and analyze electronic data are crucial to defending corporate reputations and legal claims. "Unfortunately, each year there are cases that hit the headlines in which poor legal and IT cross-team communication and collaboration result in electronic discovery omissions,” he says.

Michaels suggests that finance, risk and compliance teams who work with legal and IT separately can help the two groups bridge the organizational gap between them. “Teaming with other departments can be invaluable in shifting discovery efforts away from fire-fighting mode into a streamlined, repeatable process,” he says.“Having these teams work together now can only benefit everyone involved.”