E-mail Now a Requirement in Legal Discovery

According to international law firm, Fulbright & Jaworski, 90% of US corporations are currently involved in litigation. Although a shockingly high estimate, the growth of civil litigation for business resolution is undeniable. And, now that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) have been changed, corporations that use e-mail, regardless of their size, have one more reason to keep those legacy e-mail messages within reach.

In December 2006, the FRCP was updated to recognize the importance of electronic documents (e-mail messages) in civil procedings. Specifically, parties involved in civil litigation are now required to present electronic evidence that is material to the case. As a result, the ability for the corporation to quickly search and find pertinent e-mail messages is now a need that all businesses must addresss.

According to Storage Magazine, Editor in Chief, Rich Castagna, 52% of SMB organizations surveyed in December 2006 still rely on tape back up for their e-mail retention. The absence of a searchable index when messages are stored on tape means that these businesses, when called upon to present evidence in a discovery process, will be unable to comply with FRCP and face court penalties.

The new FRCP changes will also probably put an end to the age-old strategy, recommended by many corporate lawyers, of deleting e-mail messages on a regular cycle so that evidence that might prove damaging in the future (called "The Smoking Gun") is destroyed.

For information on how e-mail archiving addresses legal and other corporate concerns, ask for a complimentary copy of the white paper titled "E-Mail Archiving and the SMB - Archiving, Compliance, and Disaster Recovery in One Solution" by sending an e-mail to info@northseasamt.com