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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:
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
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