Let me preface this with ... I am not a lawyer ...

Okay, now that the formalities are out of the way, I tend to agree with
the lawyers on this one (don't shoot me - I swear it's the first time!).
Seriously though, if a company were compelled to convert all
data/documents into a format that would make submission under discovery
easy, regardless of the cost/inconvenience/operational impacts
(productivity impacts), and in the absence of active or "reasonably
anticipated" litigation, corporate America would be in a really bad
spot.  

Now, in the event of a litigation where the opposing counsel makes a
compelling argument that the data is relevant and must be produced, then
you'll likely need to figure out a way to produce it in a format that is
acceptable to both parties/the court - but then, and only then.  So
jumping the gun and doing it as a preemptive measure at a cost with
potentially no ROI seems to me that you might be jumping the shark (any
Happy Days fans out there?).

Any other thoughts in Listland?  Any lawyers willing to chime in?

Off to happy hour now - cheers!

Julie

-----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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