Managing the lifecycle of electronically stored information

In December 2006, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect that changed the way companies must handle electronic documents, records, and messages-collectively defined as electronically stored information, or ESI. Any ESI that could become evidence in a federal case, such as interstate lawsuits, compliance regulations (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and OSHA), EEOC and other employment issues, immigration cases, and actions by the Internal Revenue Service, are included. Actually, it is difficult to think of any business document that might not be covered. This article discusses the amended rules, how failure to manage ESI properly can lead to catastrophic results, and how to manage the lifecycle of ESI.