Retention and Destruction of Client Files in a Law Firm
| Publication year | 1996 |
| Pages | 47 |
| Citation | Vol. 25 No. 4 Pg. 47 |
1996, April, Pg. 47. Retention and Destruction of Client Files in a Law Firm
Over time, the amount of material being preserved becomes quite large and imposes a variety of burdens on the firm:
Cost. Retained client files must be stored somewhere, and often this means prime office space. Even when files are stored off-site at a records storage facility, total yearly expenditures will be quite high if there is a large amount of material being stored. Off-site storage imposes additional costs because, in addition to monthly storage fees per box, records centers commonly impose charges each time a box is retrieved.
Efficiency. The more documents there are, the more must be searched through to find a given item, and, over the years, older files will become progressively more disorganized. Additional staff time and resources must therefore be expended in maintaining and searching the file system, which translates into reduced profitability for the firm. For material stored off-site, this also means delays while material is retrieved and transported from the storage center or while staff members are sent to the storage site.
Professional Liability. The larger and more disorganized the pile of material to be searched, the greater the possibility that an item will not be found when needed. If this occurs on the eve of a filing deadline or in some other time-critical situation, prejudice to the affairs of the affected client could result.
Peace of Mind. There may be a nagging awareness that documents might be impossible to locate if needed, or uncertainty about whether they were actually retained, returned to the client or destroyed. When staff members are frantically trying to locate a missing document, the stress becomes obvious.
A formal and legally sufficient records retention policy for client files is a solution to this welter of conflicting demands. It increases efficiency and client service by ensuring that needed documents are both in existence and actually available for the firm and its clients when they are needed. It accomplishes this by regularizing the creation, storage and disposition of documents, so that at any point during a file's life cycle there is no uncertainty as to what documents have been placed in the file or sent to the client. In addition, a systematic destruction of old files ensures that the possibility of losing needed documents amidst a mass of other material is reduced to the minimum.
The firm's profitability also is increased. Staff and attorney time are more efficiently used. Less time is spent in file system maintenance and search and retrieval activity. Other costs, including the cost of such items as file cabinets, shelving, offsite storage and so forth, are reduced. If the firm has been retaining large amounts of valueless and disorganized material, these savings can be quite dramatic.
However, there are complications in achieving this. Ethical considerations dictate that disposal of client files be handled with care. Unfortunately, there is no single law or ethical rule that explicitly and completely covers the matter, nor is there a governing Colorado ethical opinion setting forth definitive guidance on retention of client files. Material contained in the file may be governed by other laws. A records retention policy that achieves the orderly and appropriate disposition of client files must therefore satisfy a number of laws, rules and practical considerations. Fortunately, the Rules of Professional Conduct (effective in Colorado January 1, 1993, and replacing the Code of...
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