5. Work in progress
The practice of law is primarily about the
creation of documents
6. Unintended consequence
The failure to have clear procedures on version
control can lead to:
• Editing the wrong document
• Producing a final document that has not been fully vetted
• Exposing the firm to potential malpractice.
7. Knowledge
Much of the firm’s
knowledge is
captured in
• Prior work product
• Practice area
templates
as well as
• Practice notes
• Notes on case law
• Client advisory
• Checklists
http://
8. Unintended consequence
Full-text search isn’t very useful
• Templates and prior work product often use the same words
No incentive to profile documents
• Typical DMS profile is “document” or “miscellaneous”—
neither facilitates searches
9. Records
All the final documents
the firm generates
grouped according
to type:
• Client documents
• Received letters, email
• Pleadings filed by the
other side
• Documents filed by the other
side
• Agreements and drafts
• Court orders
• Other gov’t documents
• Research
10. Unintended consequence
Clients own most of the file. Without good
records management:
• Firm cannot implement retention policies
internally
• Firm will be unable to satisfy client requirements
for retention on their content
• Failure to comply with either can result in
malpractice or sanctions for spoliation of data
11. How well do you
understand the
legal content
lifecycle?
Is your firm
experiencing any of
these unintended
consequences?
LEGAL
CONTENT
LIFECYCLE
