2005 [LitigationTrends] Survey, by Fulbright & Jawoski L.L.P. did a survey of 354 corporate counsel and CEOs, 50 from U.K.m, and 304 from the United States, with median gross revenues of $484 million.

They found:

• Companies with $500 million in revenue, on average, are dealing with 37 lawsuits at any one time.
• Companies with $1 billion in revenue, 147 lawsuits

For policies:

• 80% of the companies have Document Retention Policies
• 75% have Litigation Hold Policies
• But they worry that they may fail to keep up with statutory, regulatory, and case law requirements

Threats come from three directions:

• Electronic discovery requests in cases filed against the company
• Electronic discovery request for lawsuits filed by the companies against others
• Regulatory agencies probing company records looking for violations

According the report, the greatest concern of the counsel and CEOs, of companies with over $100 million in revenue, was ED (electronic discovery). For smaller companies were worried most about compliance.

Failure to comply is likely to involve electronic evidence.

Useful books:

The Electronic Evidence and Discovery Handbook Forms Checklists Guidelines by Sharon D. Nelson, Bruce A. Olson, and John W. Simek Over 200 cases summarized on CD Helpful information and commentary Templates for e-discovery requests Planning effective e-Discovery strategy

Effective Use of Courtroom Technology: A Lawyer's Guide to Pretrial and Trial Criminal Justice Technology In The 21st Century