Hi Lee,
I am just as mystified that those in my law firm are asking this question as well. I have read your book and completely agree that every reasonable effort to contact the client must be undertaken. I have been voicing my opinion that this is not a road we should be going down. I will continue to strongly argue me case about NOT disposing of any files without properly notifying the client. In addition, we have a number of boxes in our storage company in which the contents are not clearly identified and these are the files which go back 8, 10 or 12 years. These are the files in which the administrators in my firm as asking the question about whether we can just simply destroy them. However, I have been trying to make the arguments that we should not make the arbitratory decision and that we still need to recall these boxes and review them to identify the proper files and clients that in these boxes.
I will definetely be looking over your book this weekend again.
Irene Eklund
Records Specialist
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Irene Eklund
Donovan Hatem LLP
Two Seaport Lane
Boston, MA 02210
617.406.4607 (direct)
617.406.4501 (fax)
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-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nemchek, Lee
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 2:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [RM] Ethical Bound to Contact Clients before Destroying old cases
I have to ask, are you seriously asking this question, after all the discussion on this issue in a myriad of forums and an authoritative treatise over the past ten years? This ceased being an issue that can be debated by law firms some years ago; it's an absolute given that there is a best practices protocol for how to handle closed client files, and getting rid of them without contacting clients isn't part of the protocol. The only exception to this is if each affected client signed an engagement letter agreeing to the firm's retention practices, and, even then, most firms take a conservative approach at the point of final disposition. Maybe it's just me, but I'm simply amazed that this question can still be asked by law firm administrators.
--Lee
Lee R. Nemchek, MLS, CRM
Vice President, Enterprise Records Governance
Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.
333 South Grand Avenue, 28th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
p +1 213 830-6252 f +1 213 830-8504
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www.oaktreecapital.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Irene Eklund
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 11:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Ethical Bound to Contact Clients before Destroying old cases
The question has arisen in my law firm is we are ethically bound to contact former clients before destroying their old files or if we can simply destroy old cases files which have been closed for 8, 10 or even 12 years.
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