A number of large corporate legal departments, which have already begun to focus on IT as a means of streamlining processes and cutting costs, took to the podium either to showcase their suppliers’ latest offerings or to communicate their needs and wishes to the market.
Raytheon has bought into the concept of IT-enabled risk management and in-house lawyer Woods Abbott featured in a panel discussion on how Sarbanes-Oxley has changed the rules of the game. Abbott warned in-house counsel to beware their law firms’ “pack rat mentality” with respect to data storage. They are likely to keep every single document, memo and e-mail you have ever sent them – and they will keep it all forever. “And if they have it, you can be sure that the other side will ask for it,” he said ruefully. Abbott went on to underline the importance of spelling out not only your data retention policies, but your broader risk management strategy, to all the firms your company instructs.
