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RDX Storage Solution for Legal Litigation Cases within the Insurance Industry

Tort Litigation - Document Retention, Retrieval and Portability

One of the many responsibilities of an insurance company is defending its clients when tort allegations are put into suit. Since tort defense is not the core business of the insurance company, the insurance company’s legal department outsources litigation cases, such as these, to Legal Law firms. The insurance company will have an approved pool of litigation firms that it uses for these cases and will assign cases to them. Tort litigation cases can be complex and lengthy. A typical case in the insurance industry lasts four years. This means that all records relevant to the case must be kept available for quick access during this period of time. An insurance firm can face stiff sanctions if adequate records are not kept and available.

A first step in the litigation process is for the defense firm to advise the insurance company to put a hold on all documents relevant to the insurance company’s client’s case. Then discovery can begin. A hold means the attorneys call for collection of all pertinent documents that exist which are relevant to the case and all documents that are created in the future.

This document hold is one key driver for document retention policy. Though a suit may be brought long after an injury (tort cases may be filed up to three years after the original incident), pertinent records, including original underwritten policy, any updates, conversations and emails relevant to the defendant, may come into play. These documents can go back many years to the initial underwriting of the policy. These types of documents must be retained indefinitely and be readily available for discovery processes. Copies of documents must be available for defense and claimant attorneys during the discovery process.

Further claims may be made against the insurance company, some related to poor document retention. Examples are:

  • The insurance company can be sued by their client, the defendant, if he feels the representation by the insurance company is not adequate

  • The reinsurance company can file suit against the insurance company if they feel adequate documentation has not been retained


How RDX Technology Can Support Document Retention, Rapid Access and Portability for Tort Claims

In addition to supporting client law suits, insurance companies have several drivers that govern corporate document policy retention. They are:

  • Insurance regulatory compliance

  • Internal legal policies

  • Audit requirements

  • Corporate governance policies

Key tort document needs are:

  • Documents must be retained forever

  • Documents must be quickly retrievable

  • Documents must be secure and portable

Tort claims may be made up to three years after the incident and all documents relevant to the claim must be available indefinitely. One corporate data retention policy may be that client documents are backed up after three years to RDX portable cartridges with WORM (Write Once Read Many) technology and indexed for offsite archiving at a facility such as Iron Mountain or a similar service. WORM ensures that the original document cannot be modified. The documents are secure on RDX removable disk media, which has a tested lifespan of over 30 years.

If a hold is put on these documents for a litigation case the document can easily be retrieved from offsite storage using index information. Any older documents relating to the case can also be retrieved the same way. Select files can be retrieved using drag and drop technology, the RDX docking station appears as another disk drive to the computer.

The relevant documents can then be copied to multiple RDX removable disk cartridges and sent to the defending law firm, the insurance company’s legal department or the plaintiff’s litigation firm. The cartridges can be dropped in an overnight delivery envelope and mailed to the recipient – documents stored safely, securely and on a rugged cartridge.

Once distributed the RDX portable disk can be used from the desktops of the litigators. The docking station appears just as another disk drive to the computer. Personnel can easily retrieve documents using drag and drop technology or restore the entire disk to the computer hard drive. The litigators have the convenience of readily available documents even if the litigation lasts four or more years.


How RDX can play a role

  • Client Document retention, archive and retrieval

    • Save by client in backup – indexed by volume

    • Place on an RDX cartridge and archive offsite

    • Pull documents from an RDX cartridge

  • Longevity – RDX cartridges have a tested lifespan of 30+ years

  • Portability – RDX cartridges are safe, secure and rugged

  • Capacity 1 TB