I am concerned as well, Rick, that our litiginous society will render
history a dangerous place to be "caught", but in the counseling field that
I am part of, the opposite is in some sense true. With the increase in law
suits brought against pracitioners of all ilks, the trend is toward
greater detail and longevity in documenting cases. Whereas in the past the
issue was not of great significance for counselors and many different
practices were followed across the country, more and more I am seeing
clear emphasis from professional organizations, insurers, and
credentialing or licensing agencies on raising the level of documentation
and the length of time it must be kept. In fact, this has become a fairly
rich area for continuing education courses in the field.
This may be different because of the professional nature of the
interaction, but I wonder if you checked back with that friend you
mentioned in your post whether we would still be saying the same thing. It
seems to me that when a corporation cannot demonstrate very clearly what
they did and did not do in the past that they would be more liable for
damage than otherwise. I am not a business person, however, so I would be
interested in the perspectives of those who are...
-- Tobin Quereau Austin Community College quereau@austin.cc.tx.us