The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/116777
lessons learned Diving Into the Drives Our FileSharing Fix by Leigh Isaacs and Kathleen Jimenez of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe 106 Peer to Peer Most firms have shared drives; attorneys appreciate the ease and flexibility. However, for those tasked with managing information, there is general consensus that shared drives should fall into the "four-letter word" category. Shared drives typically equal unstructured information and duplicative data, and bringing structure and process to such chaos can be an overwhelming task. Our firm decided to take on this task. While all groups within our firm played supporting roles, two key groups led the charge to manage our information: the IT and records departments. Where To Start There could have been many places for us to start our data management efforts; however, the shared drive environment emerged as a clear frontrunner for attention. Shared drives offer flexibility and easy access for the storage of documents and data, so they were used frequently. Generally speaking, anyone could claim space and create folders. Naming conventions were not required, and there were no guidelines about personal versus firm or client use. Using shared drives to store information related to matters staffed across multiple offices created challenges and frustration for attorneys and paralegals searching for information saved by other offices and teams. The network is set up with drives to which every user is connected. The J: drive maps to local content, and the P: drive lists other offices that are also accessible. As we explored usage patterns, it became apparent that multiple copies of documents were stored in various places as a "just in case" insurance policy. This was just the beginning of our shared drive challenges, and other simultaneous initiatives made this the perfect time to address them.