Why You Really Do Need to Create and Keep a Copy of All Your Files

• Citation: Vol. 48 No. 4 Pg. 37
• Publication year: 2023
• Pages: 37
• topic: Business of Law

Why You Really Do Need to Create and Keep a Copy of All Your Files Vol. 48 No. 4 Pg. 37 Vermont Bar Journal January 2023

by Mark C.S. Bassingthwaighte, Esq.

I won't keep you waiting and wondering. In my mind, the reason is self-evident. If you ever find yourself having to deal with a malpractice claim and have minimal or no records to defend yourself with, well, suffice it to say, that's a problem.

How common of a problem is this really?

I will admit that the inability of an insured to provide any file at all or something that even on a good day would have a hard time qualifying as a bare bones file isn't commonplace; but it does happen. When it does, we're often told something along the lines of "I didn't think maintaining a copy of that file particular was necessary." Of course, now that a claim has arisen, there is a recognition that it obviously was.

One excuse we sometimes hear is "That client was such a pain. I couldn't get rid of him fast enough." Here, one of two things likely happened, both of which are basically the misstep of making the goodbye, good riddance response. The attorney was either completely fed up and the file was given to the client in order to get him out the door as quickly as possible, or the attorney was trying to do everything thing she could do to avoid the discomfort of a confrontational exchange.

I do understand that when faced...