Records and Information Management and Compliance
A sound records management program, particularly one that integrates electronic records, pays large dividends in litigation or other proceedings.1 A program which classifies key records and provides proper life cycle management for business information can reduce the volume of data by at least 25% that needs to be reviewed in immediate response to a proceeding. A sound program also allows management and counsel to quickly pinpoint the business units and individuals most likely to have relevant information. This can save even more significant amounts of both time and money by excluding irrelevant departments and data stores from a pending matter. Finally, a sound program allows management and counsel to respond quickly if the scope of a proceeding changes.
When advising on records management programs, the IMeD Group provides four tiers of service to meet your particular needs:
- Where a non-lawyer consultant has been engaged to advise on records management, we have reviewed the scope of work to assure that the client will receive a meaningful delivered product that is likely to address its stated needs. We also have reviewed resulting records retention schedules and any related legal hold procedures to assess their adequacy in the client’s actual legal environment. These reviews typically are made on a fixed-fee basis.
- For a records management program that has evolved over time, we provide an assessment of how evolution matches the client’s current organization and legal environment. This assessment includes identification of any apparent gaps in the program and general suggestions of how they might be filled. Assessments typically are accomplished on a fixed-fee basis.
- We have worked with clients who already have identified limitations in their programs or want us to follow up an assessment with specific remedial measures. In these situations, we analyze the business structure and perhaps conduct limited employee interviews. These steps result in recommendations both to remedy existing issues and to monitor programs for future changes in business or legal conditions. Where a client wishes to consider archiving or other electronic records management solutions, we have assisted with the vendor identification and selection processes. These engagements may be accomplished on a fixed-fee or budgeted basis.
- We have developed and implemented records management programs for clients who have no defined program in place. In these situations, we analyze the business structure and legal environment, interview key employees and sample categories of key business records in order to develop a program with retention schedules. Where a client wishes to consider archiving or other electronic records management solutions, we have assisted with the vendor identification and selection processes. The program also includes procedures for training those officers or other employees charged with ongoing responsibility for the program, and monitoring future changes in business or legal conditions.
1 “… a large corporation … can only discharge its duty [to preserve information] by: 1) creating a ‘comprehensive’ document retention policy that will ensure that relevant documents are retained, … and 2) disseminating that policy to its employees.” In re Kmart Corp., 371 B.R. 823, 846 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2007), quoting Larson v. Banc One Corp., 2005 WL 4652509 at *11 (N.D. Ill. 8/18/2005).
Practice Highlights
Recent sample highlights include:
- Performed fixed-fee assessment & advice on updating an insurer’s records retention policy, including comprehensive review of formal records classifications and related retention periods;
- Analyzed a records management program for a financial services company, including review and assessment of both retention schedules and disposal practices for compliance with Gramm-Leach-Bliley as well as state secure disposal laws; and
- Advised a manufacturing company on conforming specific document retention schedule to actual business practices and litigation profile beyond the minimum statutory and regulatory requirements.
