E-MAIL AS LEGAL EVIDENCE PAPER

E-mail as Legal Evidence Paper

Email as Legal Evidence Paper

Introduction

In security management offices email volume continues to grow at an exponential rate, bringing with it an increasing array of spam, viruses, and security exploits. Finn and Banach (2002) mention offensive and inappropriate content, combined with the flotsam and jetsam of digital lifestyles, threatens to clog email systems, spread malware, and expose the organization to litigation and unnecessary risk. And yet corporate email systems are lacking in basic email management functionality (Finn and Banach, 2002). This paper discusses email as legal evidence in the context of security management organization in a concise and comprehensive way.

Email as Legal Evidence: A Discussion

Email is the business application of the Internet in security management offices. It is integral to every part of the business process, including communications within your organisation and contractual negotiations between the business and customer.

Your ability to compete effectively in today's markets is enhanced by the use of email where speed of response is paramount. By exchanging emails, even the smallest business can buy and sell goods and services quickly and efficiently.

Using email can ensure your reach and reputation is enhanced beyond your physical presence. Email can also significantly reduce the cost of sale and delivery. It is now difficult to imagine any successful business without email.

Yet we have arrived at this situation almost by accident. There are very few mechanisms in place that ensure email is controlled in security management offices. It is probably the ease of use and lack of checks that has been instrumental in its success. When it works, both parties to a commercial transaction are content: one party provides the goods and the other is pleased to pay for what they have received. When everything goes well, everybody is happy (Skupsky, 2003).

Sometimes things will go badly wrong. For instance, someone might be working from the wrong version of the quotation or tender document. On other occasions, a commitment to do additional work might be overlooked. In these situations you have to be prepared, stay calm, sift the facts from the emotion and respond appropriately. Your aim is to seek a remedy that satisfies the customer whilst you do not loose out, achieving the win-win solution.

Most of us try hard to avoid taking legal action. If such action is necessary, you will spend considerable time, emotion and money on trying to rectify a problem. The longer lawyers are involved, the higher the costs will be and the result is never certain.

Taking legal action can be a risk that is detrimental to the business. There are times when you are obliged to take legal action. This usually occurs when the other person either will not negotiate to resolve the dispute amicably, or has an unrealistic or misconceived sense of the strength of their position.

It is when dealing with these problems, that you can put procedures in place to reinforce your own case: and in so doing, help avert a trip to the lawyer in the first ...