As painfully illustrated by recent white collar and SEC cases, as well as in more and more large and small scale litigations, failure by a company to understand its legal obligations regarding the retention and destruction of documents can lead to disaster. Moreover, failure to adopt and enforce strict policies for retention and destruction of documents can result in staggering litigation costs. Electronic discovery is a practice that has become standard in litigation, and practitioners well-versed in the world of data, metadata and forensic searching are becoming increasingly intrusive in their demands for electronic material. Yet, many companies still do not appreciate that the significant increase in electronic information, coupled with the informality in which it is created and proliferated, creates enormous litigation risks.
Foley examined, from the perspective of seasoned attorneys, the key components for an effective data retention and destruction policy, including:
- Which documents should be destroyed?
- When should the documents be destroyed?
- How should you accommodate various statutory and regulatory requirements?
- Who should be in charge of policy implementation, administration, and enforcement?
- When should documents be withheld from otherwise scheduled destruction?
- What audit procedures should be used to determine that the policy is being executed in a consistent manner, and why is this important?
We also discussed the availability of document management systems designed to help to implement your retention and destruction policy.
This presentation provided valuable information for companies seeking to avoid the pitfalls and costs associated with failure to adopt and enforce effective policies for retention and destruction of documents.
“Corporate Records: What to Keep and What to Toss” is part of Foley’s 2007 Boston Executive Briefings Series.
