Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
it.won't.need.to.be.produced,.and.therefore.we.can.ignore.
it. and. not. worry. about. its. preservation.. It. is. important. to.
understand.that.the.opposite.is.true..Even.if.electronic.data.
are. not. reasonably. accessible,. if. the. data. are. relevant. to. a.
case. you. have. a. duty. to. preserve. the. data. as. long. as. it. is.
possible.to.do.so.
The. only. “get. out. of. jail. free”. card. in. this. deck. is. Rule.
37.(f).as.amended.to.include.electronic.evidence..This.rule,.
often. called. the. Safe. Harbor. rule,. says. that. you. cannot. be.
sanctioned. for. spoliation. of. evidence. if. you. have. destroyed.
that.evidence.as.part.of.your.“routine,.good.faith”.operations.
and.policies.
But. let. me. insert. a.
huge
. caveat. here—one. you. heard.
before.and.will.ind.many.times.in.this.topic:.The.courts.will.
look.at.your.practices.and.not.your.policies.if.and.when.you.
claim.safe.harbor.under.this.rule.
Consider. for. instance. a. case. in. which. an. organization.
claims. that. important. and. relevant. electronic. evidence. was.
lost. as. a. result. of. its. routine,. good. faith. policies. to. recycle.
videotape.after.a.given.amount.of.time.
However,.during.deposition.of.their.IT.staff.it.is.revealed.
that. for. the. most. part. they.
never
. recycle. their. videotapes.
and.in.fact.have.video.dating.back.to.the.ancient.days.before.
video.was.digital..Their.policy.states.that.they.will.recycle.vid-
eotapes,.but.that.policy.had.never.been.followed.before.now..
Suddenly. upon. inding. this. particular. tape. that. might. have.
been.damaging.to.their.case,.they.remembered.their.policy.
and.had.a.whole.group.of.tapes.recycled.
Obviously,.this.is.not.going.to.ly.with.the.courts,.and.the.
safe.harbor.rule.is.going.to.fall.lat.on.its.face.as.an.excuse..
In.fact.in.case.after.case.we.ind.that.this.can.be.extremely.
dificult.to.prove.unless.you.have.very.well-documented.and.
audited.policies.and.procedures.
Rule.37.(f).also.sets.rules.for.sanctions.against.parties.who.
refuse.to.participate.in.good.faith.in.the.discovery.conference.
procedures.outlined.in.Rule.26.(f)..This.is.basically.the.teeth.
behind.the.Rule.26.guidelines.for.the.“meet.and.confer”.and.is.
