Legal Technology Journal

With the explosion in electronic information that law firms need to manage, store and retrieve, records managers are looking for ever more integrated and organised systems.

Remember the famed I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel are trying to wrap individual chocolates rapidly coming down a conveyer belt? The chocolates keep coming faster and faster until the women have to stuff their hats and mouths full of chocolates in an effort to hide their inability to keep up. Law firm information managers can certainly relate to this classic image. Faced with increasing volumes and sources of data, these IT managers might consider Lucy and Ethel lucky – at least the chocolates were only coming from one source and in one format.

The shift in spotlight from paper to electronic media has added both complexity and exponential volume to the information in law firms that must be captured, categorised, shared, stored, retrieved and retained, from physical files to electronic documents, e-mail, images, faxes, voicemail, etc. To keep up, law firms have relied on numerous firm repositories, including systems for document management (DM), records management (RM), e-mail archival, litigation support, imaging and even personal e-mail inboxes.

Control of these silos of information is also spread throughout firm personnel, including records managers, IT professionals, legal staff and lawyers. What’s more, the information management goals among these parties historically have been different. IT specialises in electronic storage and recovery while the records department is most concerned with classification, retrieval and retention, and legal staff and lawyers focus on access.

There are numerous issues inherent in these disparate approaches to content management. For example:

• If e-mail that constitutes records resides in an lawyer’s inbox, how will the firm ensure that these records are managed as part of the client file?
• Are retention schedules being consistently applied to all records? What about e-mail? Can the firm ensure credibility of these records in court?
• How would the firm respond to a subpoena to produce all information related to a matter from two years ago?
• How many resources would it take to gather client files for outbound lateral hires?

A united approach

To address such issues, firms should strive for consistent management of all information throughout the matter life cycle, independent of repository or media type. This is often easier said than done, which is why it has been only in recent years that firms really have taken strides towards achieving this approach to managing client files.

A major driver of this change is risk management and compliance. Firms need to adhere to regulatory mandates (eg Sarbanes-Oxley), industry best practices (eg ABA guidelines) and firm-specific policies and procedures. Other motivating factors include the need to manage electronic records and e-mail as part of the client file; implementing auditable records-retention schedules; managing records for litigation, mergers and acquisitions as well as lateral hires; enhanced productivity; knowledge sharing; space and offsite storage savings; and disposition of closed-matter files.

The success of a matter-centric approach to content management is dependent on synergy among firm personnel, processes and technologies. Developing and utilising consistent taxonomies or classification methods for managing client/matter information can be a uniting force. Because the majority of the client/matter file usually resides in DM and RM, aligning the naming conventions in these two key systems is a prudent starting point.

Docketing becomes more intertwined

In the litigation context, docketing is also a significant source of documents that end up in records as well as the source of why documents are created in DM.

For example, a pleading that comes in and has to be calendared (docketing). Next, it has to be filed in the proper folder (RM), and then a response to the pleading has to be drafted (DM). The response will likely have dates associated with it (docketing), and a copy of the responsive document will also have to be filed (RM). Then, the other side will reply to the responsive pleading the firm drafted, and the cycle continues, creating a cascade of documents to be filed, responded to and calendared.

Every docket item that comes into a firm will eventually end up in a file (eg Pleadings: Volume 1). Having a litigation docketing system that integrates directly with the firm’s RM gives users the ability to declare records automatically from the docketing system. This occurs when the docket is saved and requires no interaction from the end user. The record can be moved with a simple drag-and-drop into the appropriate folder when it comes time to file it away. This simple integration alone can save a firm anywhere from ten seconds to ten minutes per document.

Tanya Garig explains the thinking behind the system at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pitman LLP: ‘We have mirrored the file structure in both our RM and DM – the taxonomy is the same. Our end users have the same choices in both environments. Adoption directly correlates with training, which is why we have taken several approaches to ensure end-user comfort with matter-centricity including one-on-one training, if necessary. It’s especially important to have a good structure for retrieving information. Discovery is expensive, so it’s very important to know where to look. We frequently deal with lateral hires, and having a consistent file structure makes document status very clear and easy for us to transition information for the outbound lawyer as well as to preserve the client relationship.’

Risk is also reduced by limiting the number of people involved and the overall number of keystrokes required to enter this critical data. Also, information is filed more quickly, easily, and accurately, and is available immediately.

Different strategies to align DM/RM taxonomy

To get started, records and IT must work together to develop and implement a consistent methodology. Records managers need to know how electronic information is stored, backed up and retrieved. IT needs an understanding of what constitutes a record, as well as records-retention and disposition policies. Both must be clear on firm goals, policies and procedures, as well as end-user preferences and adoption realities.

Firms of all sizes, practice specialities and geographies are in the planning stages or rollout of a matter-centric approach to file structures for optimal retrieval and retention. As Julia Colgan of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP puts it, ‘more than 90% of the information that flows in and out of our firm begins, lives and dies in electronic format, so it is important that whatever approach we take, it accommodates the volume and work habits of the e-world. Two crucial issues to keep in mind are viability and sustainability. People have to be willing and able to use it, and management has to be willing and able to enforce it.’

Best practices for enterprise-wide classification

Critical to the success of any matter-centric system development process are a number of best practices:

Form a cross-functional team. A uniform approach requires representatives from various areas of the firm working together. In addition to IT and records, consider involving your firm’s general counsel, CIO, risk management partner and managing partner. To help ensure adoption, lawyers and legal staff should also be included in the process prior to final roll-out. Or, if your firm has an existing risk management or knowledge management committee, be sure to involve them in the development process as well.

Articulate goals and objectives clearly. Whether it be for risk management and compliance, improving retrieval, implementing retention or going paperless, be sure that all involved are clear about the firm’s intentions.

Set structured policies and procedures. Review your firm’s existing practices in light of the set goals and cross-reference against external mandates and industry best practices. Think through the logic and set standards that best support your firm’s operations. Will retention be set at the matter level? The document level? Be sure to get management support for any changes.

Perform a tech check. Review your firm’s systems for features and functionality to support your information management goals. Integrated DM/RM systems make it easy for all involved. Look for drag-and-drop functionality in matter-centric folders and features such as global search. For optimal firm protection, keep end users out of the records declaration process through ‘silent declaration’ for automatically applying retention rules to closed matter files.

Keep it simple. Use consistent taxonomies for folders and document types regardless of system or media. Make the choices manageable to help ensure usability.

Provide training and communication. Make sure the firm’s goals, policies and procedures are clearly communicated to end users and that thorough training is provided. Keep in mind that attorneys who are more comfortable with a paper-based world may require additional training.

Audit and enforce. Make sure that records-retention processes can be audited and policies enforced.

Incorporating these suggestions and strategies into a unified approach to handling client information throughout the matter life cycle will help reduce risk exposure, strengthen competitive edge, improve productivity and increase client responsiveness.