alt Hacker News> Most companies don’t have an issue with clear communication because they’re not worried about what’s being said will end up part of a criminal investigation.
Only if you count "most companies" by company, i.e. most companies are therefore small businesses. And of course they're not worried because they're small and not subject to these kinds of investigations. They're not profitable enough to be targets.
But if you count "most companies" by where most people work, you're talking about medium-to-large corporations. And it's standard these days to have policies exactly like Google's, to not retain instant messages for example, and delete e-mails after a short number of years. Because they're big juicy targets for frivolous lawsuits.
So no, this isn't a win-win. People say dumb stuff all the time that a lawyer can take out of context. That doesn't mean a corporation is a criminal organization, as you suggest.
Corporations sue each other all the time, not because the corporation being sued is criminal, but because the corporation suing thinks it'll be able to get away with it. But you seem to be ignoring that.
I’ve worked at and seen multiple companies with 10+k employees that have the attitude I was talking about, it’s not just a small or mid sized company thing.
I have also been told internal communication is more likely to be beneficial in lawsuits. It’s not because you’re intentionally hiding stuff, but because your employees have a viewpoint that is more likely to align with your interests than a 3rd party.
> People say dumb stuff all the time that a lawyer can take out of context.
Stuff taken out of context is rarely very persuasive when you can provide that context. It’s far more damaging to their credibility than your case.