In the litigation files I have worked on, images of the documents are
imaged and tagged/indexed to correspond to a database record that
describes the document and its contents. (The program we've used is
called Summation Legal Database). If your situation is similar to the
cases I've worked on, then the images themselves are not generally named
to explain their contents. They are usually alphanumerically generated
filenames that correspond to a database record which fully describes the
document and its contents.
If this is true for your case, then it will be difficult and/or time
consuming to rename the electronic files (depending upon the numbers of
images, of course) to something more descriptive of their contents.
Another potential issue is multi-page documents. You would need to find
out if the litigation processes being followed will provide one image
file that has all of the pages in a document, or if instead there is a
separate image for each page of a multi-page document as that will have
an impact on your logistics.
With respect to your lawyer's question, "... if, once litigation is
done, those images can just be kept for retention purposes for the
remainder of their time...". I question whether that would be
appropriate given the fact that you state your organization doesn't have
an EDMS program in place. [I'm inferring that you want to use the
images for future use and to complete the records retention requirements
and that you hope to use the images in lieu of the original.] I don't
know why you couldn't use the images, but not as the official record.
Otherwise, I believe you'll need to update your polices and procedures,
as well as your retention schedule to reflect the inclusion of
electronic media.
If I'm on-track and you have more questions, please feel free to contact
me directly, otherwise, sorry about that!
Laura Kirbyson
Records Co-ordinator
City of Calgary Water Services, Distribution Control
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Nolene Sherman
Sent: 2006 March 22 11:15 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Litigation Support Imaging
Our litigation attorney is looking at a service that will take all
documents we have identified as relevant to a particular litigation and
organize, image and index them for ease of access during litigation.
It's not specifically stated in the proposal, but his understanding is
that the images are housed on the service's servers. He's wondering, if,
once litigation is done, those images can just be kept for retention
purposes for the remainder of their time and also be used for SB800
compliance (SB800 is a California law that requires builders to make
available to homeowners certain construction information upon request)
when those types of documents have been imaged. We do not presently have
an EDMS system in place. Has anyone else used these types of litigation
support services and transitioned those images for retention?
Nolene Sherman
Director of Records Management
Standard Pacific Homes
(949) 789-1668
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