New rules compel firms to track e-mails

[Ban Hammer 14,286]

WASHINGTON - U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.

The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial.

The change makes it more important for companies to know what electronic information they have and where. Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely copies over a backup computer tape could be committing the equivalent of "virtual shredding," said Alvin F. Lindsay, a partner at Hogan & Hartson LLP and expert on technology and litigation.

James Wright, director of electronic discovery at Halliburton Co., said that large companies are likely to face higher costs from organizing their data to comply with the rules. In addition to e-mail, companies will need to know about things more difficult to track, like digital photos of work sites on employee cell phones and information on removable memory cards, he said.

Both federal and state courts have increasingly been requiring the production of relevant electronic documents during discovery, but the new rules codify the practice, legal experts said.

The rules also require that lawyers provide information about where their clients' electronic data is stored and how accessible it is much earlier in a lawsuit than was previously the case.

There are hundreds of "e-discovery vendors" and these businesses raked in approximately $1.6 billion in 2006, Wright said. That figure could double in 2007, he added.

Another expense will likely stem from the additional time lawyers will have to spend reviewing electronic documents before turning them over to the other side. While the amount of data will be narrowed by electronic searches, some high-paid lawyers will still have to sift through casual e-mails about subjects like "office birthday parties in the pantry" in order to find information relevant to a particular case.

Martha Dawson, a partner at the Seattle-based law firm of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP who specializes in electronic discovery, said the burden of the new rules won't be that great.

Companies will not have to alter how they retain their electronic documents, she said, but will have to do an "inventory of their IT system" in order to know better where the documents are.

The new rules also provide better guidance on how electronic evidence is to be handled in federal litigation, including guidelines on how companies can seek exemptions from providing data that isn't "reasonably accessible," she said. This could actually reduce the burden of electronic discovery, she said.

link

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Goddamit! This isn't freedom!

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Have we suddenly been annexed to mad-Vlad's old Soviet Union without our knowledge?

[Sinergy 3]

wow and i never thought id see us go commie in my days

[mawilson 2,133]

Then I guess it's a good thing then that we can PGP encrypt all our emails with a key

long enough that even the fastest NSA computer could not crack it in a billion years?

[Ban Hammer 14,286]

Then I guess it's a good thing then that we can PGP encrypt all our emails with a key

long enough that even the fastest NSA computer could not crack it in a billion years?

never underestimate the power of a cray, grasshopper

[mawilson 2,133]

Then I guess it's a good thing then that we can PGP encrypt all our emails with a key

long enough that even the fastest NSA computer could not crack it in a billion years?

never underestimate the power of a cray, grasshopper

Cray, shmay.

[almaty 19]

hmmm..big brother is watching ..this goes my merit increase

[Sofiyya 1,687]

For years, the government has been working on regs re compiling and controling electronic records for years. Not just those of private companies, but their own, as well. Most people don't realize that state, local and federal governments have a myriad of definitions and laws designed to manage public and private business records. It's actually a good thing, but records management is a passion of mine since I've worked in litigation for many years and have had to keep abreast of the changing regs and policies. Developing and keeping to records schedules, proper retention and retrival, and on time destruction will save companies mucho bucks in litigation costs.

[mawilson 2,133]

Financial firms already have to comply with the regulations on electronic communications

mandated by the SEC, NASD and NYSE. SEC 17a-4, NASD 3010, NYSE 342, 440 & 442,

IDA, SarBox 404 and HIPPA all require retention of e-mail.

http://www.seccas.com/

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Sarbanes-Oxley has made the financial world stand up and take notice. Welcome to the post-Enron world!

Edited December 1, 2006 by szsz

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

that is why they sell aluminin hats. B)

Daniel

:energetic:

[almaty 19]

that is why they sell aluminin hats. B)

Daniel

:energetic:

good point brother daniel...

[PurrSuede 0]

WASHINGTON - U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.

You mean, you didn't realize MOST companies in the US are already doing this???

And if you are using a corporate computer, owned by your employer, they have every right to see, review, monitor, etc, all the emails, IM's, websites that you visit, etc.

You didn't know this???

hmmmmmmmmmmmm...

-- Dan

[Dean iWait 0]

that is why they sell aluminin hats. B)

Daniel

:energetic:

I makes my own own aluminum hats.