Major law firms employ approximately 22 attorneys per records employee, while smaller firms employ about nine lawyers per worker in records, according to Emerging Best Practices in Legal Records Management, a new study from Primary Research Group.
The study is based on detailed interviews with records and practice management professionals and partners at some of America's most prestigious law firms, courts and law schools. Among the organizations profiled: Thompson Hine, Dewey Ballantine, Kay Scholer, Fulbright & Jawarski, The National Archives & Records Administration, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, the U.S. Court System for the District Courts, Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Darby & Darby.
The report reveals a great deal of upheaval in legal records management. Law firms and other organizations struggle to integrate new technologies such as RFID and comprehensive digital imaging of documents, as well as new philosophies emphasizing greater knowledge management skills and the integration and archiving of electronic records with paper archives.
Many of the organizations profiled were in the process of developing new document retention policies, and the report discusses their strategies and travails in this area of emerging importance and stress.
A minority of law firms, and the US Federal Court System, are moving ahead dramatically with records imaging. Firms that move forward often expect to spend more than $100,000 just to get started. The report describes their effort and relates their advice on equipment purchases, training, and explaining the issue to senior partners, among other issues.
Proponents of comprehensive digital imaging are often somewhat skeptical of the possibilities of RFID technology, saying that widespread digital imaging will obviate the need for it. However, RFID has many proponents and is on the wish list for many firms though perceived high costs seem to be discouraging more widespread use.
It is not only law firms that are moving forward with new information technologies. Indeed, Thomas Cooley law school describes how one of its legal clinics has automated much of the records and case management process. The National Archives and the US Federal Courts describe efforts to make digital records the official record of submission, displacing traditional paper formats.
The law firm department leaders in the sample tended to emphasize the importance of aggressively maintaining the reputation of the records department within the firm. Loss of reputation leads to loss of cooperation from others which then reduces the records department's effectiveness which leads to further loss of reputation, etc, etc. Dramatic action may be necessary to restore reputation and reverse the downward spiral once the records department suffers a blow to its reputation, setting off the self reinforcing plunge into ineffectuality. Records departments can implode once they lose the trust of those they serve and regaining that trust needs to be aided by a firm but sympathetic law firm management.
For more information, go to:
http://www.primaryresearch.comjhagmann - 20. Jun, 19:54
