A $1.888 million dollar judgment in favor of a Delaware bankruptcy trustee stresses the importance of careful consideration before deleting electronic records from your company’s computer system. In the case of In re Quintus Corp., 2006 WL 3072982 (Bankr.D.Del.Oct. 27, 2006), the Bankruptcy Court of the Delaware District imposed a penalty of summary judgment against a party the Court found intentionally deleted documents, including electronic records, that would have been harmful to the party’s position in the case.
Electronic Discovery Law Blog has a complete summary of the case and a link to the opinion.
If you are interested in learning more about electronic records retention and discovery issues you may also want to check out the Fios white pages and articles on electronic discovery. Legal consultant Dennis Kennedy also has an excellent electronic discovery resources page.
As pointed out in an earlier post, the new federal electronic discovery rules become effective December 1, 2006. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, 33, 34, 37, and 45 are being amended to take into account the importance of electronic records in the discovery process.