Electronic Records Management: The Legal Problem That Lurks Behind the Scenes

You think your client's company has a good case. From what you can gather, the allegations that your company, or one you represent, stole trade secrets from a rival are completely unfounded. But then you enter discovery. Your opposition requests a whole host of e-mails ' predictable these days. <br/>Outside and in-house counsel quickly realize that with all the storage IT departments have added to accommodate the expanding volume of e-mails a company produces, some firms have no systematic program for eliminating no-longer needed e-mails. As a result, you learn that the amount of e-mails and related electronic documents that must be retrieved under discovery is staggering - hundreds of thousands. It soon becomes clear that, although the case should have been defendable, it's more financially sound for the company to begin negotiating a settlement.

16 minute read July 01, 2004 at 12:02 AM

By

Bob Tillman