>>- does legal ownership of the computer mean the company has carte blanche rights to all its contents?
>>
>>Yes!!!
>>
>>
>>- if the contents will become important in a legal dispute does special care need to be taken that its contents are not tampered with after access is achieved?
>>
>>Yes!!!
>>
>>The last thing I want to do is open myself up to getting sued by the former employee for making this PC accessible to the company (which will likely be his legal adversary).
>>
>>He doesn't have legal ground.
>
>Ah, nice and simple - I like that!
>
>Are you a lawyer? < g >

Al;

"Hang the guilty party and then give him a fair trial". Now, which one is "guilty"?

Tom