Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1596
www.iltanet.org E-Mail Life Cycle 19 aRChIvIng Is nOT ThE uLTIMaTE sOLuTIOn Most firms turn to e-mail archiving to alleviate bloat within their messaging systems. While this is a good use for an archiving system, the question should be, "Why does the bloat exist in the first place?" To records management professionals the answer is clear: The massive e-mail volume that most firms experience is due to ineffective records and information management practices. Even if a firm begins employing new technologies and processes today, there likely will remain a backlog of unclassified e-mail requiring an archiving system. It is impractical to expect that the entire legacy e-mail collection can simply be moved to a proper repository. To thin this glut, firms historically have introduced e-mail archiving solutions to reduce the burden on e-mail messaging servers. E-mail archives can hold the unclassified, legacy e-mail, and free up the messaging system to perform more reliably. An archive, however, is not the proper long-term solution to manage e-mail. a LIfECyCLE ManagEMEnT aPPROaCh TO E-MaIL Records management is the disciplined approach of managing information throughout its lifecycle and includes several phases: creation/receipt, use, storage, and disposition. Managing e-mail messages as records is no different from managing any other record format; e-mail records should be managed and retained based on the content value of the message. So what are e-mail records? They document a decision, provide evidence of a business transaction, or are messages in which the attorney provides advice or gives evidence of fact, legal thoughts and mental impressions. The record value can be contained with the body of the e-mail message itself or as an attachment. Best practices dictate that client and firm business records, including those in e-mail format, be moved to a system that can manage them throughout their lifecycle and be purged from the messaging system in a relatively short time; e.g., 30 – 90 days. This practice ensures that: • Proper categorization (by client/matter or administrative function) is applied at a firm-wide level, so similar records are destroyed using a consistent, repeatable and documented process • Access to the e-mail by all matter team members • E-mail storage cost reductions are realized when duplication is reduced as e-mail messages are centralized into another system E-mail messages should be moved at the "creation/ receive" phase or at the "storage" phase of the lifecycle (typically once a matter has closed). If messages are not moved until the "storage" phase, however, then only the author or recipient(s) can benefit from the information contained in the e-mail while the matter is active. This is the primary argument for moving e-mail messages out of the messaging system as soon as they are created or received.