We all save emails we think might be important; vacation time, pay changes, memos from the higher ups. But should we be saving more?

According to Edward Alexi of Tangent, Inc: “… approximately 90% of the day’s business communications are performed via email or by way of unsecured instant messages.”

Think about it, 20 years ago correspondence between offices was, just that, correspondence. With pens and paper. Now every topic, meeting, memo and conversation is done electronically. The paper trail is no more. 

What are the Rules:

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure govern the production of evidence in Federal cases. The FRCP is designed for the civil federal court system, with input from the US Supreme Court, and approval by the US Congress. Seventeen states have adopted the new rules for electronic stored information (ESI) discovery and eighteen additional states are considering adopting the new rules for state civil litigation. Companies that find themselves subjected to lawsuits within the federal and state courts system need to be prepared to meet the requirements as written and supply information immediately as it pertains to individual cases.

Amended Rule 26:
As of December 2006, all institutions must meet the eDiscovery requirements as stated in the FRCP. This amended rule was created to assist specifically at helping courts and litigators navigate the new world of ESI. The eDiscovery requirements recognize all electronic communication, especially email and IMs as now legal to request at the court’s convenience. Organizations now have a clear responsibility to produce ESI or face the penalty of the law.

Penalties of not following FRCP eDiscovery Requirements:
As outlined in Section V, Rule 37 “Failure to Make or Cooperate in Discovery; Sanctions,” penalties include paying for the expenses of the opposing party, contempt of court, imposing of sanctions against your case, heavy fines, or even an automatic guilty verdict. (ITworld.com)

There are some really great options to help you implement these laws.  Using a virtual desktop or server, backing up to an online source like .mac/MobileMe, google, or your companies online database,  will get the job done without slowing down operations; as if you just saved all these emails to your hard drive.  The ability to save these emails in one place, and retrieve them in one easy search is what is most important. 

This is something that, if put off will cost you time, money and could bring other unpleasant government consequences as well. 

When The Dallas Morning News requested specific e-mails last month from the county’s information technology director, the district attorney’s office said it would cost about $720 to pay someone to conduct a manual search. (Dallas News)

To help you with this transition, we at AIO Network Solutions can answer all your questions and give you options to meet your companies needs.