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Getting to Zero

By Rob Mattern
February 28, 2015

Of all the areas that our company reviews with law firms, the question of how to manage paper records ' both onsite and off ' is probably the greatest hurdle faced by many of our clients. For most areas of back-office operations not running optimally, firms can outsource or hire a new manager and typically solve the problem. This is not the case for paper records.

The drafting of a firmwide, long-term strategic plan for your records is much more difficult, especially in the offsite records contract area. Having contracts in place that will allow you to destroy stored files and overcome previously, poorly negotiated contracts in a cost-effective manner is a challenge, to say the least. This issue, coupled with the cultural hurdle to reduce on-site paper files and migrate to a digital world, are substantial to overcome. Add in the industry-wide fear held by attorneys to destroy paper documents, and the hurdles become even more considerable.

Three facets must be in place to drive your offsite storage costs to zero:

  1. Offsite storage contract(s) that will allow you to destroy records in a cost-effective manner;
  2. A process that allows you to digitize your onsite records; and
  3. A Records Retention Policy that is adhered to and lays out the retention guidelines for paper and electronic records.

Can it be done? Absolutely. Can it be done cost-effectively? Absolutely, as long as you have a plan, the management and the contracts to support it.

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