On 5/23/05, Nolene Sherman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


> How 'bout this scenario: Morgan Stanley had a program in place and had
> destroyed emails in the normal course of business. They get sued and
> produce all the relevant emails they have, but the one that the other
> side is looking for isn't there (destroyed, again, in the normal course
> of business). Is Morgan Stanly off the hook?

IF you read the WSJ articles MorganStanley's process was not too good.
How does one forget 1600 tapes?

>
> How 'bout this one: The one email that would have proven they didn't do
> anything improper was deleted in the normal course of business. Could
> that harm them?
>
> I'm asking because my CFO is afraid of the second scenario more than
> being caught with no program in place at all. How do I address his
> concerns?

This particular question has been raised numerous times, by CEOs, CFOs
you name it. The probability is greater that you find the document
that harms than you are of finding the one that helps.

What needs to be done is the following

1. Train and educate employees in the proper manner of writing
business messages whether emails or letters.

2. Make sure your processes are well documented.

3. Test your processes on an ongoing basis. Have Internal Audit
conduct an examination of your records processes regularly. this will
help locate holes in your process, so that you can improve them. Have
internal audit examine the recordkeeping practices of your
organization's various units. Nothing like an audit finding to raise
records management awareness.

4. Work with your legal counsel to identify the company's shortcomings
in the litigation arena. What was right, what was wrong in your most
recent cases.

Remember records are created to document the decisions and actions
taken by an organization in the ordinary everday course of business.
The failure lies with the human factor of the business processes.  You
have to keep the bad with the good. Selective destruction only creates
problems.

peterk

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