In my current firm, we are grouped together.  I have responsibility for
records, intake and dockets, and so have functional groups that sit near
one another.  

My staff handles all areas of law, however I am thinking about parsing
out intake work based on practice area (assigning certain practices to
certain intake staff) in order to begin developing a more complete
understanding of the complexities of their business needs (as anyone in
a law firm knows, transactional lawyers often need/want different things
than litigators do!).  This may or may not be expanded to the records
staff, however that decision will wait until we get some kind of records
software in place (we currently have NOTHING!!!).

I do echo what someone else said about IP matters - it is often helpful
to have someone specially trained in this area as it is a very
particular kind of work, and particularly for docketing purposes.  Same
goes for litigation, and because of the typically large volume of paper
associated with litigation work.

In a previous firm, when I first got there, the records staff were
spread out amongst the attorney floors and each supported just the floor
they sat on.  That set up didn't work overly well for several reasons
including issues with coverage when someone was out, lack of cross
training, difficulty in creating and maintaining a sense of "team"
amongst the records specialists, etc.

Luckily that firm moved and consolidated Records into a centralized
environment.  That change was immensely beneficial not only to the firm
but to the individual staff members.  Coverage was easier to provide,
staff were exposed to all types of work which elevated their value and
ability, there was a new sense of "team", our service levels stabilized,
etc.

In my opinion, if you can have your staff physically together, that's
the best scenario.  Whether they handle specific areas of law or not is
up to you - there are pros and cons of both approaches.  If you do
choose to assign areas of law, you need to be diligent in your cross
training and refresher training to ensure your department, as a whole,
remains responsive regardless of which member happens to be there, or
not.

I do not have any designated Records staff in our other offices -
everything is handled through our HQ office.  As we grow, I do expect to
begin the process of creating "Liaisons" using secretaries or actually
staffing a formal position (depending on the size and needs of each
office).

I'm happy to share my experiences further if you like.  Please email me
at [log in to unmask] or call me at 803-253-8270.

Julie

Julie J. Colgan
Director of Records Management
Nexsen Pruet LLC
Columbia, SC
www.nexsenpruet.com

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