Facing E-Discovery Montana

By Stacey McDaniel

The increase of electronic information has led to a new era in legal proceedings whereby courts can now mandate searches of digital data for evidence. This process is known as e-discovery, short for electronic discovery. E-discovery can include searching data on a single computer as well as on a network.

According to new amendments to a law that went into effect at the end of last year, both parties involved in any court hearings will have 30 days to figure out how to grant access to data for the purpose of gathering evidence for the case. This means that as a small or medium businesses owner, you will need reliable systems for email archiving and document retention. Fortunately, there are archiving and storage solutions that can help you save time and money, and hopefully avoid costly penalties in the event of court proceedings.

Recommendations
Although the new e-discovery regulations would place a great deal of responsibility on business owners, you can be prepared by learning about the regulations, and implementing the recommendations discussed below.

• Create corporate policies It's critical to create -- and communicate --corporate policies that provide guidelines on document retention and email archiving. By giving your employees specific actions to take regarding how and where to save important information, you are taking proactive steps towards making your business compliant with new regulations.
• Implement a system for email archiving Emails are now considered valid sources of evidence in some legal cases, and therefore it is important to have an email archiving system in place. If you have your own email servers, you should back up your server so that information is not lost should there be any physical damage to the server. If you use an external email provider, you should implement a system to back up all company emails so you have access to them when necessary.
• Install security solutions Considering the importance of electronic documents and electronic information within a legal context, it is necessary to make sure that you have original, uncorrupted versions. This is why you need a "defense-in-depth" solution. "Defense-in-depth" means exactly what you might think: creating multiple layers of protection around your computers and valuable electronic information. You should have antivirus and firewalls software installed on each device, firewalls on your corporate network and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to utilize when making remote connections. Don't forget to implement security software (including antivirus) on your email servers.
• Implement a backup and recovery solution Most often, emails and other information in electronic form are kept on many pieces of physical hardware. The ability to securely store and retrieve this data is an important part of regulation compliance. You may want to consider implementing a disk-based backup solution so that you do not lose valuable information. Disk-based backup not only assures you of timely backups without requiring manual tape backups, it also stores newer versions of documents as changes are made and allows you to quickly and easily search and retrieve relevant data.
• Consider comprehensive solutions You can get a bundled package that includes archiving and storage tools especially designed for small- to medium-sized businesses. One advantage of these comprehensive solutions is their ability to work with and fill holes in the IT environment currently in place. A bundled solution is especially advantageous if you have limited IT staff, since it is typically fairly simple to deploy. Some solutions improve the security of already existing email and file archiving infrastructures, as well as offer discovery services to help with compliance efforts.

Conclusion
New regulations, including the upcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, require businesses to take responsibility for their electronic information, including archiving and providing quick access to data that may be required in the case of legal proceedings. By learning about these changes to the law before they go into effect and implementing technology solutions, you can make your business compliant. Being prepared can help you avoid possibly costly penalties. In addition, you will help make your business more attractive to customers because of the enhanced data protection and security solutions your business offers.

Stacey McDaniel has been writing about high-tech issues for more than six years.