lateral lawyer transfers and matter mobility
DESCRIPTION
Lateral Lawyer Transfers and Matter Mobility. Terrence J. Coan, CRM, Senior Director Raymond Fashola, Director Robin Helburn, Manager September 19, 2013. Learning Objectives. Our objectives today are to: - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
LATERAL LAWYER TRANSFERS AND MATTER MOBILITYTerrence J. Coan, CRM, Senior DirectorRaymond Fashola, DirectorRobin Helburn, ManagerSeptember 19, 2013
LEARNING OBJECTIVESOur objectives today are to:
• Define the relevant policy positions that a law firm should consider to support matter mobility
• Apply practical, process-based steps to handle the release or acceptance of materials associated with a lawyer who is transitioning into or out of a firm
• Utilize lessons learned during the transition of millions of documents and files from Dewey & LeBoeuf to other firms
2
INFORMATION GOVERNANCE & RECORDS MANAGEMENTGUIDING PRINCIPLES• Provide guidance to the firm’s lawyers and staff on the
management of information and records• Comply with state, federal, and international laws,
regulations, and ethics rules• Ensure that the policy is not overly restrictive• To the extent practical, provide flexibility in how lawyers and
staff meet policy objectives• Reduce risks and costs associated with the management of
information and records• Improve client service
INFORMATION GOVERNANCE & RECORDS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FRAMEWORK
LEADERSHIP & ACCOUNTABILITY
Firm-wide executive leadership for the program • COO, GCO, CIO, KM, IGRM
Clearly communicated roles and responsibilities across the firm at all levels
• Office heads, administrative department leaders• Practice chairs, matter billing / responsible lawyers• Lawyers and staff
Initial policy acknowledgement; ongoing compliance monitoring with periodic acknowledgements
Directives that establish program authority and communicate firm guidelines and expectations covering these areas:
• Ownership of records and information• Firm-approved repositories• Confidentiality and security of records• Transferring records into/from the firm• Legal holds• Disposition
Retention schedules that define time periods records and information will be kept considering:
• Ethics opinions and statutory/regulatory requirements• Practice-area client-service requirements• Business and operational reference needs• Risk position
POLICYFRAMEWORK
RECORDS ANDINFORMATIONMANAGEMENT POLICY
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
ActiveMatter
Management
Receivefrom client
or third party
Matter Open
Created bythe Firm
Matter Closed / Cull convenience copies
Redact orGeneralize for
Know-How
Protect and retain to satisfy retention
requirements
Dispose
Reuse
A
B
C
FLitigation
Support Data
Hard-copy Files
ElectronicFiles
Drafts, Copies, Notes, Research
Billing, Conflicts,Matter Admin
Matter Opening / Intake
Lateral Hire
Attorney Departure & Client File Release
Ethical Walls & Matter-based Security
Active File Management
Retention and Disposition
Legal Hold Processes
Matter Close
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
HD
LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS & TECHNOLOGY: NO SILVER BULLET
RecordsManagement
Comply
• Track circulation• Drive source-
system retention• Support discovery
+ legal holds
DocumentManagement
EmailArchiving
Store
• Move aged email• Protect mission
critical messaging system
• Dispose based on creation/receipt date
DataSecurity
Collaborate
• Defacto go-forward email repository
• Provide team access
• Track work product versions
• Distinguish draft v. final
Protect
• Identify confidential information
• Establish ethical walls
• Protect personally identifiable information
• What data does the firm have? Where does it reside?• Are there detailed information data maps prepared?• Has the data been mapped to retention schedules?• What system is the authority source for the data?• Is there a single point of entry which then feeds all other
systems? How does the data promulgate throughout the firm?
• Is the data accessible to those who need it, while also being secured per privacy requirements and ethical wall restrictions?
• Do line of business applications support systematic disposition in accordance with policies?
DATA & RECORDS
• Lawyers and staff are front line in managing electronic records and information
• Training provided when the program is first implemented
• Continual, persona-based, just-in-time coaching as needed
• Real-time metrics and “social” monitoring
PROGRAM TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT
RECORDS ANDINFORMATIONMANAGEMENT POLICY
• What will the firm accept/release?• How will you treat materials with no client/matter #?• Who will review and approve these materials?• How will you process materials in electronic form vs.
hardcopy?• What special handling is required for attorney personal
materials?
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TRANSFER OF RECORDS TO/FROM THE FIRM
Lateral Accepts Employment Offer
Coordinate Resources and Communication
Receive Client Authorization Letters
Receive Client Materials from Prior
Counsel
ProcessMaterials
no Return Unauthorized Materials
yes
Materials Authorized? Check and Resolve Conflicts
no yes
MaterialsAccessible? Ingest Materials into
Firm Systems
no yes
MaterialsComplete?
Address Layout + Content with Prior Counsel
no yes
MaterialsOrganized?
Set Up Off Network Access
Lawyer Organizes
LATERAL FILE TRANSFER PROCESS: INCOMING
Official Matter Files are increasingly electronic and require tools to help with the quick and easy review, release and ingestion of the matter file
• Retain folder organization and document metadata• Easy extraction and load to minimize lawyer downtime
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AUTHORCLIENT DOCS
LOCATE DOCUMENTS
APPROVAL ASSEMBLE DOCS
REVIEW PROCESS
REVIEW + APPROVE RELEASE
RELEASE DOCUMENTS
PACKAGE DOCS + META DATA
ELECTRONICREVIEW TOOLS
DEWEY & LEBOEUF – HBR RELATIONSHIP• Initiated strategic sourcing initiative• Conducted high-level RIM program diagnostic and later a
detailed assessment• Engaged to lead program development• Replaced back-office operational staff with strategic-
focused team• Drafted and initiated retention and disposition program
24
DEWEY & LEBOEUF – THE BANKRUPTCY• The numbers as of spring 2012
- 1000 lawyers, 300 partners- 44K clients and 280K matters
• Mass exodus of lawyers and clients to other firms required fast yet accurate transfer processes
• Operational challenges resulting from bankruptcy and liquidation
• Records team from 24 to 3
25
DEWEY & LEBOEUF – ELECTRONIC DATA• Unstructured electronic data• Immature matter-centric deployment; limited email filing• Dwindling and increasingly restricted system resources• Limited IT support• Likely that personal collections of electronic data “walked
out the door”
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DEWEY & LEBOEUF – HARD COPY FILES• > 1.5M file folders indexed in RMS• 450K offsite boxes ($1.5M annual spend)
- 18 vendors, 30 facilities worldwide- Previously closed offices with unmanaged
inventories• 15K boxes onsite across 8 active US offices• Historical filing nuances
- Varied inventory indexing with sporadic details- Mixed client materials across boxes/facilities
27
DEWEY & LEBOEUF – THE APPROACH• Court established file disposition process
- Notice to clients- Client requests submitted/processed- Coordinate with 3rd parties to transfer files
• Team structure: administrative, operational, and technical• Processed 2,500 clients with ~ 35,000 matter file transfer
requests; coordinated with >100 law firms affecting >10TB of data and 80K boxes
28
DEWEY & LEBOEUF – GREATEST CHALLENGES• Coordinating with storage vendors who required
up-front payment• Departed lawyers who “just want their files”• Automating the review with little to no IT support• Playing catch up with years of file processing backlog• Lack of inventory detail for matter files and boxes
with mixed clients
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Terrence J. Coan, CRM, Senior [email protected]
Raymond Fashola, [email protected]
Robin Helburn, [email protected]
LATERAL LAWYER MOBILITY & MATTER TRANSFERS