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

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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

Email

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

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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

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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

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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

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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 DirectorTCoan@hbrconsulting.com

Raymond Fashola, DirectorRFashola@hbrconsulting.com

Robin Helburn, ManagerRHelburn@hbrconsulting.com

LATERAL LAWYER MOBILITY & MATTER TRANSFERS