Modern litigation precautions for builders

One of a contractor’s biggest fears is being brought into a lawsuit.

Nearly everyone in the construction industry has a story regarding how a plaintiff sued every contractor working on a project, from the general contractor to the one-man operation that put in a single floor drain on the last day of the job.

As unpleasant as the thought of being sued may be, it is a reality contractors need to face. And with the continuing evolution of technology and the many forms of data now playing into lawsuits, business owners need to familiarize themselves with document retention policies and the implications of electronic discovery.

In today’s business climate, about 92 percent of all data is stored in electronic form. More than 30 billion e-mails are sent each day worldwide. And if a company is sued, those electronic communications and data will certainly come into play, along with the traditional hard copies of documents. As such, companies need to have a document retention policy in place for both electronic and hard copy documents.

But before deciding how to preserve and produce electronic data, companies must account for all the ways that information is generated, received and stored throughout the organization. Personal computers, CDs, company servers, cell phones, cameras and laptops are all areas where electronic data may be found. Also keep in mind that along with e-mails, electronic data also take the form of voicemails, text messages, documents, spreadsheets and even the company website. All of these can be used in litigation.

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Source: finance-commerce.com
By: Matthew Rosek and Nicholas Rudman