In a recently publicized case, Quinby v. WestLB, court filings reveal that 180 magnetic backup tapes were searched and produced over 650,000 pages of evidence. The discovery costs totaled more than $480,000, not including the cost of diverting IT personnel to collect tapes and live email. Plus there was the additional cost of 10 to 12 lawyers at $200,000 to $300,000 per month to analyze and review data.
Ask yourself:
- Are you prepared to search electronically stored information?
- Can you identify the source and location of all electronic records in your company, including data that exists on magnetic tape?
- Does your company have electronic records retention and disposition policies in place?
- Are they enforced?
Don't wait for a lawsuit to happen. The time to begin preparing for electronic discovery is now.
... Bob Spurzem