Records of furious litigation over payment for most of his major commissions bespeak an obstreperous character.
Over the course of our legal representation, we reviewed old government records obtained through decades of litigation under the Freedom of Information Act as well as court proceedings.
During their case, prosecutors presented an Oct. 10 video of Michael Odom, a practice director in Houston, telling accountants about the document policy and the benefits of shredding records before litigation.
In essence, by acknowledging that the firm considered the possible use of such records in litigation, Mr. Corgel -- perhaps inadvertently -- gave support to the government's contention that such records could have been useful to gain a full picture of the events at Enron, which was an Andersen client before it sought bankruptcy protection in December.
The letter he received from Matthew Oppenheim, head of litigation for the recording industry association, said that "any disclosure of information gained from participating in the public challenge" could subject him and his research team to "actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act".
Moreover, the high court's decision could discourage businesses from entering class settlements, potentially raising the cost of litigation from a record high of $224 billion in 2002, according to consulting firm Tillinghast-Towers Perrin.
According to church records that became public last month after years of litigation brought by victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests and brothers of religious orders, this story is sadly familiar.
"The Achilles' heel of record-keeping is people," said Jason R. Baron, the director of litigation at the National Archives.
OVER the last two years of litigation and recrimination involving Napster, record companies have made it clear which activities they consider unacceptable.
Perhaps just as important in an age of litigation, these systems will give them a written record.
