Hi Bill,

Here's my experience when I was in-house with law firms:

First, the whole series of questions depends upon who the lateral is and
how much revenue they promise to bring in.  The more rain they are likely
to make, the more concessions are typically made.

That out of the way, my responses in CAPS below are what I, ideally, would
do (noting that, like in the tradition of common law, each situation was
handled according to the unique facts and circumstances) ...

On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 12:32 PM, Creamer, William <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> When a lateral partner is transferring to your firm from their previous
> firm:
>
> What do you do about matter material that they would like to bring with
> them (or that their prior firm wants to send you) that does not relate to
> any current on-going representation? In other words the lateral will no
> longer be representing that client, at least as far as is known in the
> immediate future?  SEE RESPONSE TO THE NEXT QUESTION
>
> What if the matter is inactive/closed, but the client has active matters
> that will be worked on at your firm? Do you take it all, or try to limit
> your acceptance to just the active matters? WE ONLY ACCEPTED MATERIAL
> RELATED TO A CLIENT WITH ACTIVE MATTERS, BUT WE ACCEPTED ALL MATTER
> MATERIALS FOR THAT CLIENT. CLOSED AND OPEN.  EACH MATTER WAS ENTERED INTO
> THE CONFLICT DATABASE WITH THE APPROPRIATE ACTIVITY STATUS.  THE REASON FOR
> THIS IS THAT THE FIRM WANTS THE ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP, NOT JUST CURRENT
> WORK.  GIVE THE CLIENT NO REASON TO HAVE TO CALL THE OLD FIRM FOR ANYTHING.
>
> What if the previous firm (not the lateral themselves) is trying to
> literally dump on you, matter material that does not relate to any current
> active representation of a client that the lateral will be engaged in at
> your firm?  FORMER CLIENT/UNRELATED MATERIALS WERE NOT ACCEPTED (UNLESS
> THERE WERE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES - LIKE ESTATE PLANNING, CERTAIN
> TRANSACTIONAL OR IP CLIENTS, ETC. WHERE FUTURE REPRESENTATION WAS
> ANTICIPATED/DESIRED).
>
> What, in your view, or in the view of your risk management attorney
> advisor, are the risk management liabilities of this material that relates
> to matters not worked on or expected to be worked on at your firm?  MOSTLY
> IT WAS THE ISSUE OF CONFLICTING OUT EXISTING OR FUTURE BUSINESS
> UNNECESSARILY/HAVING TO MONKEY WITH A BUNCH OF ETHICAL WALLS, BUT THERE
> WERE ALSO CONCERNS ABOUT UNNECESSARY STORAGE COSTS AND OTHER RISKS SUCH AS
> HAVING TO PROTECT CONFIDENTIALITY OF CLIENTS/MATTERS TO WHICH THE FIRM IS
> NOT OTHERWISE OBLIGATED.
>
> Does raising the issue that they may be violating their own records
> retention plan get any traction with the sender?  THAT ALMOST NEVER GAINED
> TRACTION WITH OTHER FIRMS (PROBABLY BECAUSE MANY DIDN'T HAVE
> FORMAL/CONSISTENTLY APPLIED RETENTION POLICIES ANYWAY), BUT IT DID
> SOMETIMES RESONATE WITH CLIENTS; AND I'D EXPECT THAT TO BE THE CASE WITH
> CLIENTS EVEN MORE SO NOW.  THE PROBLEM IS, YOU WON'T BE DEALING WITH THE
> CLIENT (UNLESS YOU ARE FORCED TO ACCEPT THE MATERIAL UNWILLINGLY).
>
> Interested in hearing any responses regardless of the size of your firm,
> as long as it is related to legal work in the US.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill Creamer
> Records & Conflicts Manager
> [log in to unmask]
> 212.728.3448
>
>
>
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