Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
that.can.be.gleaned.via.query.to.a.database.has.been.ruled.
accessible.as.well.
Finally,. what. is. called.
near-line.
data,. deined. as. data.
stored. on. removable. media,. such. as. the. backup. tapes. we.
referred. to. earlier,. or. just. CDs. and. DVDs,. USB. sticks,. or.
even. external,. removable. hard. drives,. are. most. often. con-
sidered.reasonably.accessible.
Data.that.have.not.been.well.indexed.or.documented.or.
that. have. been. fragmented. or. corrupted. in. some. way. and.
would.require.extensive.work.to.convert.or.recover.in.order.
to. be. used. as. evidence. may. be. considered. not. reasonably.
accessible.. Also. data. that. have. been. deleted. or. overwritten.
may.be.considered.not.reasonably.accessible..However,.it.is.
important.to.recognize.that.this.is.a.relatively.gray.area,.and.
we.see.examples.of.that.when.we.look.at.case.law..It.is.very.
important. again,. to. work. with. your. counsel. to. decide. what.
you.and.your.organization.feel.is.and.is.not.accessible.and.to.
carefully.document.your.reasoning..The.opposing.party.has.
the.right.to.ask.the.courts.to.evaluate.any.claims.you.make.
that.some.data.are.inaccessible..They.can.make.what.is.called.
a.
motion.to.compel.production
.if.they.feel.the.evidence.that.
you. are. claiming. is. inaccessible. is. important. to. their. case..
Then. it. becomes. your. responsibility. to. convince. the. court.
that.the.data.are.really.inaccessible.or.that.the.production.of.
the.data.would.be.an.overly.expensive.burden.
Even.then,.as.we.see.in.some.of.the.cases.we.look.at.later,.
the.courts.can.decide.that.the.evidence.is.important.enough.
to.the.case.that.the.burden.is.worth.the.trouble..They.may.
however.use.what.is.known.as.
cost.shifting
.and.compel.the.
requesting.party.to.pay.for.all.or.part.of.the.cost.of.recovery.
to.balance.out.the.issue.of.burden.
There. is. another. important. point. to. understand. in. this.
respect,.however..Courts.will.consider.your.policies.and.pro-
cedures.and.how.well.they.are.documented.and.followed.
This. is. extremely. important,. especially. the. parts. about.
how.those.policies.are.followed..Having.good.policies.is.an.
important.irst.step,.but.if.no.one.in.your.organization.knows.
