The New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP):
IT Obligations for Email

By Roger Matus, Chief Executive Officer, Sean True, Chief Technology Officer, and Chuck Ingold, Principal Research Engineer, InBoxer, Inc.

More than 50 court opinions on electronic discovery have been issued since the Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) took effect about a year ago.

These opinions can guide organizations and IT departments about which aspects of the FRCP are really important because the courts often base future decisions on prior opinions. Some of the things IT can learn include the following:

		The courts are no longer tolerant of organizations that have not implemented timely programs to accurately retrieve email.
		Just implementing a policy for retention and litigation hold is not enough. Companies must prove they are enforced at all levels.
		The penalties for failing to meet the FRCP deadlines can be an order of magnitude larger than putting a system in place.
		Limited staff and resources are not excuses for missing deadlines, even for small organizations.

It is difficult to identify a single U.S. entity that could not feel the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. There are no exceptions for company size, non-profit status, or foreign organizations. The FRCP apply to law suits that cross state lines and many court cases that involve federal regulations, such as workplace safety, immigration, and discrimination. States are also starting to adopt the major provisions of the FRCP for state courts.

CIOs, IT executives, and their representatives can be called to testify under oath about their electronic discovery procedures and the accuracy of the evidence presented. Failure to be accurate can be damaging. In June 2007, a company was sanctioned because their counsel made representations that were based on inaccurate IT information.

This whitepaper will start with a brief examination of five of the more notable opinions related to IT’s implementation of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The whitepaper will continue with an overview of the FRCP requirements for IT.

During the lengthy anti-trust case between Intel and AMD, Intel said that it set a firm, clear retention policy in place once it learned of AMD’s legal intentions. Employees, however, didn't always follow the instructions.

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The New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP): IT Obligations for Email

By Roger Matus, Chief Executive Officer, Sean True, Chief Technology Officer, and Chuck Ingold, Principal Research Engineer, InBoxer, Inc.

The New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP):
IT Obligations for Email