Could Your Electronic Records End Up Sinking Your Business?

Originally published December 27, 2007

Does your business have an official policy for the retention and destruction of your electronic information? If not, it should. No business wants to be involved in a lawsuit under most normal circumstances. However, the reality is that whether or not your business gets sued is often beyond your control, and sometimes bringing a claim on behalf of your business is inevitable. If you do any substantial business outside of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you could end up in federal court. And if you end up in federal court, your electronic business records had better be ready for it.

It is no secret that most businesses have kept their records electronically for years. For years, courts tried to resolve disputes over the production of electronic data on a case-by-case basis. After years of trying to fit new technology into old rules, on December 1, 2006, the Supreme