The Hutton Inquiry has sent shockwaves through the political and media establishment.

It has also had a significant impact on technology - for it made clear the importance of making electronic documents, and in particular e-mail, accessible to the courts.

The use of e-mail, instead of paper-based memoranda, has rapidly become a corporate standard.

With e-mails now making front-page news, the tremors are being felt by both companies and employees.

Research in the US estimates that 2.8 billion e-mails are sent daily with predictions that this will grow by 150% annually.

In addition, roughly 90% of all corporate documents are created and stored electronically, and 70% of these documents never migrate to paper.

It is therefore essential that e-mail and other electronic documents be taken into account when companies and their legal advisers are considering what has been said and by whom.

The production of electronic documentation is a well-established practice in the US.

The Hutton Inquiry is high-profile proof that electronic evidence is finally starting to be considered seriously by the English courts - e-mails were used as evidence as early as the fourth day of the inquiry.

However, the wheels of justice slowly move on and the majority of law firms continue to rely on good old-fashioned paper in their search for conclusive evidence.

But who knows what vital pieces of evidence and 'smoking gun' e-mails are being missed?

Tom Hopkinson, Legal Consultant and solicitor, Kroll Ontrack, Surrey