There is no such thing as an inadmissible format.  The only requirements for
admission are that the record be:

1.  made at or near the time of the event recorded;
2.  by a person with knowledge of the transaction, or with information
received by a person with knowledge of the transaction (or in the case of
automatically generated records, by a process that accurately records
details of the transaction);
3.  as a record made in the normal course of business;
4. as part of a regular system of records.

There is not a requirement that the record be made in a non-alterable
format.  Records made in alterable formats are routinely admitted in court.

John Montaña
General Counsel
Cunningham & Montaña, Inc.
29 Parsons Road
Landenberg PA 19350
610-255-1588
610-255-1558 fax
484-832-3260 mobile


-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Nolene Sherman
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 5:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [RM] Keeping records in non-admissible format

I am finding that our IT department has set up (or rather purchased)
several electronic systems to improve productivity and workflow. A
couple of them hold documents in formats that are modifiable. Users want
these as their record copy rather than having to print and file. My
initial reaction is that we don't want to designate any e-docs that are
not kept in a legally admissible format as the official record. The
attorneys posed this scenario: If there is no regulatory or legal
requirement to keep these documents in a particular format, we can
choose for operational reasons to assign these records as the official
copy. If we don't believe we will ever want to produce them in court for
evidence, we should be OK. If the other side requests the documents in
discovery, we say that this is the way we keep them and the fact that
they may not be considered admissible is not really our problem. 
 
Do we have an obligation to keep all company records in a manner that
would be acceptable as evidence? Or if they are just operational records
and would not be a record we would choose to use in our defense, is
whatever manner we choose OK? Are there other issues we have not
considered?
 
Nolene
 
Nolene Sherman | Director of Records Management | Standard Pacific Homes
| 949.789.1668 | [log in to unmask]
 

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