B&L Associates

Faulty email management may have legal consequences

October 25, 2011

According to the latest research from Oasys software specialists, an overwhelming majority of employees reported that their companies' inadequate email management practices are increasing the potential for legal ramifications.

Oasys' September 2011 Business Behavior & Email Management Project polled more than 1,200 employees within a variety of industries to gather insight on common email management issues. The survey revealed that 96 percent of respondents believe their companies are facing legal risks as a result of email management loopholes, with one in five reporting "high risk" practices.

"What most companies don't understand are the costly challenges associated with having a disorganized email system in the event of litigation," noted one attorney. "In some cases we've seen companies fined by regulatory agencies as much as $700,000 for not being able to produce specific emails under very tight timeframes imposed by the courts during the eDiscovery process."

Aside from data compliance and regulatory concerns, efficient storage and eDiscovery processes improve employee productivity. More than one-third of survey respondents indicated that they spend up to two hours or more each day searching for lost emails.