When It's Time to Clean Up: Creating a Law Firm Records Disposition Program
A well-designed and carefully implemented law firm records disposition program can reduce the impact of potential data breaches, lower the cost of data storage and ensure compliance with ethical rules associated with the management of client records.
November 19, 2019 at 07:00 AM
7 minute read
Records retention and disposition is a headache for any organization, but it is a particular challenge for law firms because of the very nature of what they do and how they operate. According to the 2018 ABA Legal Technology Survey, 53 percent of respondents report that their firms have a policy to manage the retention of data held by the firm, a figure that increases with firm size. Indeed, roughly 9 in 10 law firms with more than 100 attorneys now have a formal data retention policy in place.
But in these days of increasing law firm data breaches—Legaltech News reported recently that more than 100 law firms have reported breaches across 14 states since 2014—appropriate records disposition is a critical first step in data protection.
Two Categories of Law Firm Records
The records management burden is especially onerous for law firms because they have two main categories of records, each of which comes with its own unique disposition challenges.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3'That's Disappointing': Only 11% of MDL Appointments Went to Attorneys of Color in 2023
- 4What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers
- 5'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250