Three Steps to a Safe Harbor for ESI

A survey of 200 U.S. companies found almost half lack a strategy for electronically stored information in litigation or internal investigations. Attorney Fernando M. Pinguelo and consultant Rob Kleeger look at obstacles to satisfying your ESI obligations and offer solutions.

Comments

[Carlo Fioranelli]

This article presents a great outline of the steps a business should undergo to avoid e-discovery violations. Pinguelo and Kleeger identify the problem and present a realistic, practical solution to it. If a company is willing to take the first step, it will be well on its way to protect itself from the pitfalls the e-discovery rules pose. I find that businesses often ignore these issues because they believe the cost of implementation and enforcement of a document retention policy is cost-prohibitive. It is not. Businesses need to be aware of the consequences of not having a document retention policy. With the high frequency of lawsuits involving businesses, and the increasingly high sanctions being imposed by courts upon businesses without a document retention policy, businesses will become interested in e-discovery obligations the hard way.

[Ken DiSessa]

Thanks to the authors for reminding us how important this has become. Most small and medium sized businesses don't even think about this stuff. They figure it's for the "big guys". Although it may be impractical for a small company to create a taskforce as described in the article, it's a great reminder to any business owner that this is a real issue (and potential threat) that needs to be addressed.

[Jim Neidhardt, Chairman of the Board]

Rob . . .

Great article on Electronically Stored Information and how to stay safe. It's hard to believe how many senior executives and business owners don't know, ignore, or are afraid to tackle this potentially dangeous area. Thanks for putting forth such a succinct, yet comprehensive review of this important topic and for providing the basic "How to's" to address this issue.
- Jim Neidhardt, president
Renaissance Executive Forums (CEO peer groups)

[Dave Muti, JD, RMA]

Thiis is a good article. The only antidote that I would add is to include more examples of what happens when you don’t have a policy in place. Other than that it was informative and provides useful action items to follow.

[Barry Cohen]

Rob,
Well done. You make a great team. One question: What do you advise for the smaller businesses out there? Is there any kind of software solution/turnkey product to help manage ESI?
Obviously, those folks often have no in-house attorney, and often, no in-house IT manager.

[Kathleen Lucey]

I like your article a lot.

[Marc Rosa, CFP]

Rob,

Certainly an interesting piece that not only talks about the potential donwfalls of a lacksidasical policy but also gives a good simple outline of potential steps to begin a solution. I think this article will become more powerful as more people begin to see the effects of not having a good policy in place.

[Robert F. Connolly, MST]

Rob,

Great article! So much that I didn't think about. The recommendations you included were a great touch. I am planning to forward it along to some of my colleagues.

Rob