I have posted a new series of articles on my web site at http://www.chrisdalelawyersupport.co.uk.

Called The Pyramid of Preparedness, the articles look at three tiers of action which a business ought to consider, either as a potential risk – a sudden requirement to give Disclosure in US or UK proceedings or to a regulator – or as considered polices to reduce the risk that you will not be able to comply properly or at all with a Disclosure obligation.

The three tiers are e-Disclosure, Litigation Readiness and a Document Retention Policy.

I describe it as a pyramid because the scope in terms of the number of documents diminishes as the urgency increases. At the top, a Disclosure request relates to the documents for a single case but must be dealt with at once. At the base, a document retention policy relates to every document you have got or will have.

The articles series begins here. The headings are:

1. Introduction
2. Disclosure for litigation or regulator
3. Litigation Readiness
4. A document retention policy
5. Where do you begin?

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you want to discuss anything covered by the articles.