Like some of the other respondents, the retention period for case files
at my firm depends on the type of law/subject matter and the contents of
the file at the end of the case. We generally maintain a 4 year
retention period after the conclusion of our litigation matters and once
the files are sent to off-site storage, to cover any malpractice claims
(enough to cover the statute of limitations on attorney malpractice).
All client documents are returned to the client before off-site storage,
and all copies made for document production are destroyed. Even at the
end of the retention period, we notify our clients that our retention
requirements have been fulfilled and request that they authorize either
the transfer of the paper docs to them or destruction of the files.
Laura A. Steinberg
Records Manager
Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC
www.epsten.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Gus Harris
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 12:33 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: for the RMs in the legal community
I'd much appreciate to hear from those of you who are RMs in attorney's
offices...specifically about how long you maintain case files. I'm the
RM at a public university and we follow retentions established by our
state bureau of archives and records management. The retention for
litigation case files in our state is, record copy: 5 years after case
closed or appeal process expired.
I'm going to be meeting with our university attorney in the near future
since we're having a bit of a problem getting our legal department to
allow us to dispose of litigation records that have met the required
retention.
For that matter, it appears they want to retain most all records
indefinitely, which is certainly contrary to our RM policies....or any
good RM program.
I've often read the posts here from those in attorney's offices...but I
can't recall the issues discussed. I'd just like to get a general idea
of how you all maintain your records with regard to retentions, etc.
Then, I'll be able to more effectively communicate from my position as a
records manager what I think will not only work in our legal
department...but, most important be agreeable to them (the attorney).
Thanks in advance for any info shared.
Gus Harris
Univ. of West FL
Pensacola, FL
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