publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/550988
ILTA WHITE PAPER: JULY 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 47 OFFBOARDING: MANAGING THE CHALLENGE OF ATTORNEY EXITS firms would need to search their systems to be selective about the data being exported. Add to this file-shares, non-integrated intranets, extranets and other data-sharing platforms (e.g., DropBox) from which files might need to be gathered, and it is unsurprising that IT teams approach an offboarding request with caution. While most law firm environments claim to be matter-centric, quality can vary significantly. If a firm is still "flat filing," the lawyer must manually select client, matter and document type every time a record is handled. During this cumbersome process, it is almost inevitable that documents will be incorrectly profiled, with vital documents potentially lost to the offboarding process. Firms might also perform the minimum requirement when exporting matters. Unless leveraging a specialized export program, firms typically provide a folder full of files with an accompanying spreadsheet, leaving lawyers to correlate the relationships on their own. This is neither the most elegant nor pleasant way to part ways, and the process does not have to be like that. Remember that your bad offboarding practices can become an ILTA peer's onboarding nightmare. MEET THE CHALLENGE Start your export by identifying the location of all relevant documents, email messages and records. In a perfect world, everything would be filed and stored in a matter-centric DMS, including all modified dates, edit dates, author, client partner/ billing partner). With metadata stored in a separate spreadsheet, the lawyer or new IT department will have to match the metadata to each document. This is where the value of a third-party export/import tool becomes clear. Given the number of firms that do not fully file email into their DMS or that have systems incapable of storing it appropriately, the need to export from Exchange (or perhaps Lotus Notes) could pose a challenge. Export functionality can take the form of exporting email from Outlook into a .PST file. This can be cumbersome and depends on the attorney having maintained some semblance of structure within email folders; otherwise, it requires exhaustive searching. It is best for the offboarding firm and onboarding firm to first agree on data and file formats and media format at the start of the process. documents, email messages and attachments, physical correspondence (assuming it has been digitized and placed into the correct matter) and anything else relevant to the client representation. If a firm utilizes a DMS in classic or legacy mode, end users must properly tag and profile all information using the correct matter details to ensure a complete record of representation. DMS vendors typically build a limited level of export functionality into their products. Third parties have created specialized products that simplify and streamline the administrative burden associated with data exports (and imports). The next step would be to identify and locate all relevant matters and associated files, which could be as simple as exporting each of the individual matter files. If documents are stored in a legacy format (i.e., in a non-matter-centric DMS or other file- based system), you must rely on proper searching for collection and assume that attorneys have properly entered into the system correct metadata for each document. When those documents are retrieved for export, attorneys will want to retain the relevant metadata (i.e., client and matter details,