Email retention guidelinesE -Mail Retention Guidelines
Electronic mail (E -mail) is an electronically transmitted message created or received on a
computer system. Users can create e-mail messages and attach external files of various
types to them including textual documents, graphics, and audio files. These files are then
forwarded to the e -mail address of the identified recipient and are stored until the
recipient "opens" their "mail" to read it.
E -mail is used extensively in our environment. Using e-mail we can quickly and
conveniently communicate on a variety of legal and business issues, convey policies,
announce decisions, arrange meetings and send informal notes and messages.
However, not all e-mail messages are records. E -mail messages are records when they
are created or received in the transaction of our business. E -mail messages that are
records should be maintained in the following ways:
Organized into electronic folders clearly labeled by the case, administrative
project or policy decision they pertain to. At the completion of the case, project
or decision process, e-mail should be reviewed by the administrator in charge of
the project, deleted if they do not meet the criteria of a record, imported or
scanned into Laserfiche (including any attachments) into the administrative file
and the original then deleted. All duplicate or related a -mails created or received
by other individuals about the same project or decision should be organized and
reviewed similarly.
• All e -mails may be read, imported or scanned into Laserfiche (including any
attachments), printed to paper and the original then deleted. E -mails imported or
scanned into Laserfiche, should be placed in the appropriate case, project or
administrative file.
• E -mail that does not have administrative, legal or fiscal requirements for retention
may be deleted as soon as it has served its reference function. It does not need to
be saved, imported or printed to paper.
It is important to remember that:
• E -mail messages (and the systems upon which they reside and are backed up) are
discoverable in litigation.
• As with other forms of records, e-mail pertaining to pending litigation, must not
be destroyed — regardless of any other retention guidelines in place.
Regardless of retention guidelines in place or disclaimers to the contrary, the
privacy and security of e -mail messages cannot be guaranteed. E -mail messages
can be saved on any number of computers, including that of the recipient. E -mail
messages can be forwarded to others or inadvertently sent to users they were not
intended for.
Retention and disposition of e -mails depends on the function and content of the
individual e-mail, not on its physical format. The major task for the end user is to
determine when an e -mail is a record and must be retained and when it is not a record and
can be discarded. The guidelines above are intended to provide a framework for
managing e-mail from the user's perspective.