Document Retention:10 Tips for an effective policy

Laurie MacFarlane, CIBC Legal DepartmentCharles Morgan, McCarthy Tétrault LLPDavid Gray, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

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Speakers

Laurie MacFarlane Senior Counsel, Litigation, CIBC Legal Department Litigation and document policy experience across

multiple jurisdictions

Charles Morgan Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Document retention policy drafting and

implementation

David Gray Associate, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Litigation E-discovery

The views expressed in this presentation are those of the authors only and do not represent the views or policies of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce or any of its related or subsidiary corporations.

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Background

Enormous volume of electronic information Tens of billions of e-mails sent daily Approximately 90% of documents in electronic

format Multiple copies of same information

Business data has been growing at approximately 70% to 120% per year

Use of diverse technology for business purposes

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Terminology

Electronically stored information (ESI)

Document

Retention vs. destruction

Litigation hold

Information technology (IT)

10 Tips: A panel discussion

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1. Ensure corporate buy-in

Requires input from a broad range of stakeholders

Fundamental step

Significant time and cost investment Invest management time at outset

Not just a compliance issue Litigation IT resources

Strategic cost – benefit analysis

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2. IT audit

Audit where and how documents are kept Servers, PDA, laptops, home computers Corporate teams, assistants and shared

repositories

Audit present (and potential) IT structure Structural possibilities and limitations Disaster recovery vs. efficient discovery Planned technological changes

Seek efficient IT structure Keeping is one thing, finding is another

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3. Establish appropriate scope

Policy application and implementation

Target group Corporate group, affiliates, related entities

Applicable business lines Sector specific legislation Sector specific litigation risk

Identify applicable jurisdictions

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4. Retention vs. destruction

Purpose of policy includes retention

Concerns of spoliation and Sarbanes-Oxley Negative inference Acting or attempting to ‘corruptly’ alter or destroy

a record or other object ‘with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for the use in an official proceeding’ is punishable with fines and or imprisonment of up to 20 years.

105. Retention vs. destruction (continued)

Purpose of policy includes destruction

Multiple considerations Cost and practicality of storage Administrative inefficiency Efficient retrieval

Documents destroyed regularly in normal course Policy unifies and formalises practice

Systematic document destruction in accordance with applicable law

116. Legal and business imperatives

Statutory retention periods vary Business activity Type of document Jurisdiction

Litigation and investigations

Business imperatives Retention for business purposes absent legal

requirement Corporate history, due diligence, business

concerns

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7. Efficient document holds

Threatened or actual litigation or government action

Efficient implementation of document holds May require immediate stop to relevant document

destruction

Requires policy and IT convergence Legal must provide clear, targeted instructions on

what to hold IT must be able to execute based on policy

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8. Electronic vs. paper documents

Retention of electronic documents handled somewhat differently

Rules re: scanning and “microfiching” of documents

Integrity of electronic documents

Metadata

Delete vs. destroy

Websites

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9. Transitory documents

Represent a step in the document creation process

Casual communication Drafts

Evolution of a document is revealing, but may be misleading

Provides context yet includes risk

Divergent opinions regarding whether to keep

Sarbanes-Oxley: some drafts must be kept

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10. Reference relevant policies

Retention policy is one piece of the information puzzle

Confidentiality policies Security policies Acceptable use policies Privacy policies

Questions ?

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