E-mail and E-discovery: A Q&A
With new e-discovery laws in place, companies need to be ready to turn over all types of data within 90 days to meet many litigation discovery requests. If procedures for collecting e-mail transactions have not been implemented, these companies may face serious regulatory penalties impacting the entire organization.
I thought it was worth sharing the following Q&A about how e-mail management pertains to the e-discovery process. I welcome your additional questions, comments and feedback!
What is e-mail management?
E-mail is one of many types of electronic and hardcopy records that must be managed and organized in case a company is tasked to produce records during the e-discovery process. Having an e-mail management process in place is key to being prepared. This involves the implementation of software to collect e-mails and make all messages searchable and available to administrators throughout the enterprise.
Who needs e-mail management?
Any organization that uses e-mail in business needs e-mail management. This can range from a company of two employees to the Fortune 500. When faced with litigation, all organizations fall under the same discovery laws and regulations. Depending on the size of the company, e-mail management solutions can be scaled accordingly.
How is e-mail management different from e-mail retention?
E-mail retention is the back-up of all e-mails generated and saved according to policies outlining what e-mails must be kept, how they are kept and for how long. E-mail management allows for quick search and compilation of e-mails pertaining to a certain topic, while taking into consideration the retention policies. When the court gives 90 days to present relative e-mails for an upcoming trial, companies with e-mail management in place will be ready to organize and compile e-mails, while those with just retention policies may need to spend hours and hours sifting through old files.
Why is e-mail management important? How can organizations benefit from proper e-mail management?
Effective e-mail management is critical for a quick turn around of e-discovery requests. In addition to this, a proper e-mail management system can assist companies with other regulatory laws including those that fall under Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA. E-mail management can also help make employees more productive – allowing them to access past e-mail records in a timely fashion.
How do companies convince employees to buy into the idea/necessity of e-mail management?
Simple, if a company is unable to produce information in the time mandated by the court, they could face expensive penalties that would impact the entire organization.
What are best practices for an e-mail management initiative/project?
The first step is having buy-in from the top down when it comes to implementing an e-mail management system. Corporate officers need to sync up with the company’s IT department so that all are in agreement on the best way to structure e-mail management while adhering to corporate retention policies.
For larger enterprises, products such as Xerox’s DocuShare CPX Enterprise Workflow may be used to assist companies with their e-mail management. CPX is a business process management and workflow application that handles all document and electronic records management needs. It integrates with Microsoft Outlook for integrated management of e-mail and attachments. The e-mail agent within CPX allows users to e-mail content directly into a DocuShare database and ensures administrators are retrieving the most current or approved versions of documents when assisting with e-discovery.
How do you ensure that e-mail management is maintained (procedures are followed)?
The beauty of an e-mail management program is that it can easily track which employees are using the system. Individual managers must monitor use of the system and ensure employees understand that using it is not optional. Senior management must back this message both in their communication with employees and by leading through example.
How do you measure ROI for e-mail management?
Worker productivity will ultimately increase, as employees will not have to waste time sifting through old e-mails. Also, since e-mail management is just one component of a document management system – companies will save time and money by using one system to manage all of their records – from hard copy documents to accounting forms and electronic data.
Finally, a single document management system allows for defensibility of all processes surrounding the creation, saving, and searching of documents, diminishing the risk of significant financial penalty.
Craig Freeman
Vice President, Xerox Litigation Services
Xerox Global Services