Ethics

That's what the NYT's anonymous source says.  For some time now, I've expected that fewer and fewer lawyers will advise clients that they can discard information, even when it seems lawful to do so.  First, you never know what obscure law might get cited as forbidding the discarding.  Second, the discarding only becomes an issue once a controversy has erupted -- at which time, with the benefit of hindsight, the discarding looks conspiratorial (even when it was nothing of the sort).  Third, judges have shown little appreciation for the argument that society should not be required to store massive amounts of information in easily retrievable places for infinite periods of time.  Judges tend to get offended when the evidence they want to see has been discarded, even if the evidence was discarded for routine purposes.  Finally, when the client turns to the lawyer and says "can I discard this?" the lawyer realizes that given the new attitudes about discarding information she may be crossing the line from advisor to primary participant.  The advice is becoming more conservative.