Email discovery doesn't mean finding that email from years ago with the funny pictures of your drunken friends.  It refers to the fulfilling a legal request to provide archived email messages as evidence in a civil or criminal court case.  In our litigation age this is vitally important.  It can either help prove your case, or defend yourself in a prosecution.  It forms an essential part of any modern legal process and companies should be aware and prepared for this eventuality.

With U.S. Regulations requiring all businesses establish an email retention policy, the tolerance held by courts for non compliant companies is nil. E-discovery requests and email audit enquiries are now fully integrated into both the court system and industry compliance procedures. If you were not bound by HIPAA, SOX, GLB, SEC, NASD, and NYSE regulations before the FRCP amendments of December 2006, then you certainly are now.

Recent reports have shown that more than 80% of corporate respondents have been required to provide email information, and 60% have had to supply file system information for litigation. If your organization has not yet been asked to search email or file system information, chances are that it will in the future.  Because of the prevalence of email in everyday business transactions, they are becoming more and more popular in litigation.

This is something your business cannot afford to ignore.  It isn't sufficient to merely store your email any longer.  You now have to have it stored securely, and be able to retrieve specific information upon request.