>Martha,
I believe that Maryıs response was from the perspective of a Corporate
Legal Department, not for the law firmıs retention of its matter/case
files.
For more background and information on how law firms should handle their
records, I strongly recommend purchasing a copy of ³Records Management in
the Legal Environment², by Barr, Chiaiese and Nemchek. Itıs available
from the ARMA bookstore:
https://members.arma.org/eweb/browse.aspx?webcode=product&id=a42c8fb5-6771-
4bf5-9592-9a68807f80af#.UtlyxnmtsQ8
The authors have also recently starting issuing monographs on specific
legal records topics, and these are available from the ARMA bookstore, as
well:
https://members.arma.org/eweb/browse.aspx?site=ARMASTORE&term=legal%20envir
onment
Generally, most matter/case records are considered as client-owned
material and should be retained for some period of time after the
matter/case has been closed. Specific retention periods will probably
depend on the area of practice (e.g. Intellectual Property, Trusts &
Estate, Litigation, Criminal). Retention period should be independent of
media; if you have a combinations of digital and hard-copy records for a
matter/case, itıs advisable (although not necessarily easily accomplished)
to eliminate duplicate documents. Each firm needs to make these decision
to balance its risks against the benefits. There are ethical obligations
for how such records should be protected that vary somewhat from state to
state (based on state Bar Association decisions), so your firmıs risk
management partner or team should be closely involved in the analysis and
final decision.
Pilar C. McAdam, CRM, ERMm
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Los Angeles, CA
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