It seems to me that there are two categories of risk:

1) Spoliation (disclosing the existence of more "stuff" after you've
produced records in response to a discovery order).  This is never good,
but is often the result of finding pockets of noncompliance to a
retention policy (whether from willful misconduct, ignorance, or
stumbling over some collection that was overlooked).  Disclosure is
better than an attempt to hide such instances.

2) General lack of compliance to a retention policy.  This implies that
the organization cannot implement/enforce its policies at all, and calls
into question not only the accuracy/validity of what was produced in
response to a discovery order, but the ability of an organization to
manage itself, the effectiveness of its leadership, etc.

Both categories may lead to sanctions and/or an adverse inference, but
I'd think that category 2 would present a greater danger to the
successful outcome of the litigation and to the overall reputation of
the organization.

Pilar C. McAdam, CRM
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Los Angeles, CA
 
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