Is Your Business Breaking The Law?

Is Your Business Compliant with the FRCP? You Must Have Data Backup and Email Archiving Solutions in Place.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) are regulations that govern civil procedure within United States federal courts. The Supreme Court can establish or modify the Rules according to recommendations from the Judicial Conference of the United States. Once the rules are established or modified, congressional approval is necessary.

The Rules were established in 1939, however, there’s been a variety of significant revisions, which took place in 1948, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1993, 2000, and 2006. In December 2006, the Rules were revised to address e-Discovery. These rule changes were designed to clarify the obligations of parties to provide emails and other electronically stored information in the event of litigation.

What Qualifies as Electronically Stored Information?

For most people, the term ‘electronically stored information’ can be interpreted broadly, however, electronically stored information refers to the following:

• Emails
• Computer and network activity logs
• Cache and temporary internet files
• Electronically stored voicemails
• Digital recordings
• Spreadsheets
• Electronically stored telephone logs, and
• All electronically stored information

What’s the Purpose of the E-Discovery Rules?

For the past decade, individuals and corporations have operated and communicated with one another in an electronic work environment. The significant increase in the amount of electronically stored information has created several challenges for attorneys and clients involved in litigation. For example, there’s an extensive amount of information to review and produce as part of discovery.

The Supreme Court has recognized the importance of electronically stored information. Since the revision in 2006, companies must preserve, gather, and produce ESI in the event of litigation. Failure to preserve, gather, and produce ESI will result in expensive consequences.

How Does a Business Prepare for Electronic Discovery?

As a business owner, you must prepare for electronic discovery in the event of litigation. But how do you prepare for electronic discovery? First, you must know where your business data is stored and how to retrieve it in a timely manner. For most businesses, a backup system is the most efficient way to store and retrieve data in the event of litigation.

If you don’t have a backup system in place, you must implement an efficient backup system immediately. When it comes to data backup, you must ensure data is retrievable in a timely manner. In addition, an email archiving solution is mandatory to index and search email data.

While an email archiving solution is mandatory, the ability to search and retrieve emails will also result in a more efficient workplace. An email archiving solution enables you to manage extensive amounts of emails and file attachments while complying with the FRCP.

To learn more about the FRCP, give us a call at {phone} or send us an email at {email}. {company} can provide data backup and email archiving solutions to help you ensure compliance with the FRCP.