Ever since Enron, businesses have been aware of their obligation to preserve records in the face of pending litigation.

How do we know whether electronic records exist or have been altered or destroyed? This is the realm of electronic discovery.

Electronic discovery is now a standard tool in litigation. See here.

Merrill Corporation (via Dennis Kennedy) has prepared a series of free on-line presentations (audio synched with slides) on this topic (under New Directions).

So far there are 3 presentations: 2 by Dennis Kennedy (Computers and Copies – Is Every Step Traceable? and The Mysterious World of Metadata) and 1 by Tom O’Connor (Fitting Electronic Discovery in the Litigation Support Process). They are short (10-15 minutes) and easy to listen to.

Whether you are a lawyer, IP Professional or a businessman these presentations give you an insight into the electronic trail that computer records leave.