Engineering Inc. - September/October 2005 - 26

 Too many of today's E-mail Alert standard contracts in all of the design
professions are silent Legal experts say that engineering firms
significantly can reduce the potential legal fallout from inappropriate
e-mail use with the following remedies: and ambiguous on these points [of
Impose a reality check. Engineers and other employees need to be
continually reminded that e-mail is not electronic communi- a substitute
for a solid, well-written, certified letter. Contracts, change orders and
anything else that impacts the progress or direction of a project should
be put on paper and delivered to the client. cation]. But since all of
these actions Develop an e-mail policy. Of course, it should warn against
using obscenities, foul language and emotion and address what should and
shouldn't be sent via e-mail. But, says Julie Taylor, an attorney at Noble
and involve potential Wickersham, the policy should be pithy enough so that
people actually read it and communicated often liability and since enough
that they remember it. the technology and Develop a document
retention/disposal policy. Consult an attorney because different statutes
require the surrounding legal different documents to be retained for
different periods of time. But by all means delete all internal chitter
issues are still evolv- chatter e-mails every 60 days. Some experts
suggest that it's okay to develop a separate, short-term dis- ing, go
ahead and posal policy for internal chitter-chatter e-mail, but again,
check with your lawyer before putting any assump- tions into practice. put
it in writing. JERRY LAISERIN Remember that e-mail is not paper. You may
have deleted an offensive internal message from the com- LAISERINLETTER
pany network. But what if a disgruntled employee secretly kept a copy or
forwarded it to several people including the client? The rule of thumb is,
if you don't want to see it on the front page of the newspaper, don't write
it, says Jerry Laiserin. Think before you hit the send button. Watch for
voicemail. A new feature on Microsoft Outlook allows companies to
integrate their e-mail and phone systems, which automatically saves the
voicemail digitally on a hard drive or server and then dis- plays it in
the appropriate inbox. As a now-electronic communication, voicemails could
suddenly be part of a discovery motion. Though not everyone is using this
feature, says Dan Smith, corporate counsel for CH2M Hill, engineers are
wise to assume that they're probably being recorded permanently and keep
their messages brief and pointed. H.B.H. for deposition and testimony on
using electronic means is fine guard themselves against acci- n e e d s to
be addressed in the the stand and perhaps even call in for convenience or
speed but, dental or intentional alteration, overall project contract,
answer- expert witnesses to explain what according to legal experts, the
misuse or intellectual property i n g such questions as: What t h i s
person was saying, Crist final version should be printed d i s p u t e s
by taking a multi- documents will be sent electron- says, adding that she
once had to as a sepia copy and that alone p r o n g e d approach, says
Jerry ically? Who will send them? d e f e n d a careless, emotional should
bear the engineer's seal, Laiserin, a technology consult- and Who at the
client's office is remark by an employee at her signature and title block
not ant to engineers, architects and authorized to receive them? f i r m
that ended up adding t h e electronic version. Why? o w n e r s and the
editor of the Too many of today's standard another 20 percent to the total
E l e c t r o n i c documents can be L a i s e r i n L e t t e r , a
technology- contracts in all of the design pro- cost of litigation.
changed without the engineer's focused newsletter. k n o w l e d g e .
Electronic signa- A n y plans or change orders [Technology] is Creating a
Paper Trail t u r e s can be tampered with. sent electronically should
always kind of like the F o r engineers, technology Electronic versions
can be for- i n c l u d e a digital signature, a b e c o m e s really
tricky when warded to unknown entities and d a t e - t i m e stamp and a
dis- automobile. They clients demand that deliverables used without
permission. And claimer or transmittal that out- do all sorts of be sent
in electronic format or documents might not be able to lines the purpose
of the docu- require collaboration with other be opened accurately or
opened m e n t and under what wonderful things, design firms and
contractors on at all in five years depending circumstances it can be
used. If but they can be Web-based project design appli- on the software
used to create feasible, the official blueprints dangerous if you're
cations. Both instances mandate them. should be archived through an that
engineers utilize solid con- Of course, clients occasionally independent,
third-party careless or stupid. tracts and tried-and-true busi- m a y
insist on complete elec- provider like your reprograph- DAN SMITH ness
practices. tronic communications. If that's i c s company . And the elec-
CH2M HILL Sending a blueprint or plans t h e case, engineers can safe- t r
o n i c exchange arrangement 2 6 E N G I N E E R I N G INC. S e p t e m b e
r l October 2005
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2005

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