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81 I L T A N E T . O R G C reating an effective information governance program is a unique business opportunity for law firms – not only to reduce risks and costs but also to improve client experience and increase productivity. In this article, Andrew Keller identifies the key information governance disciplines that can be leveraged to enrich the practice of law. The way information is managed has always mattered to law firms. But it's only in the last decade or so that Information Governance (IG) has emerged as a strategic business function in the legal sector. This has come about because law firms are now operating in a changing environment. It's one in which information has never been more abundant or generated more quickly while being delivered in so many forms. It's an environment where clients have never been so demanding or fickle when staying with one firm. There's a new ecosystem in which data has become a lucrative commodity for cybercriminals. There's an evolving regulatory landscape about information that has never been so crowded or changeable. We also now have an environment in which technology empowers law firms to control and leverage knowledge more efficiently than ever before. Leveraging this technology helps enable firms to achieve, among other things, robust IG. But what does that look like? IG is a firm-wide approach to managing, protecting, and leveraging information assets that involves multiple stakeholders and embraces a wide range of cross- functional disciplines. These include information security management, Matter Lifecycle Management, Records and Information Management, Document Preservation and Mandated Destruction, Outside Counsel Guidelines and Client Information Request Management, Matter Mobility Management, Firm Intellectual Property Management, and Document Retention and Disposition. 1 IG then calls for the development of policies, processes, procedures, and controls to put rigor around each discipline. Matter mobility management To put this in context, take the discipline of Matter Mobility Management. When lawyers come into or leave their firms, they often bring or take their clients and matters with them. Processing the mobility of these matters is not straightforward. Does the firm want to accept all a lawyer's clients, i.e., are there conflicts of interest? When lawyers leave, the firm is obligated to allow the transfer of clients and matter-related content. But there are some complexities around what the firm may want to keep as protection from potential future liability actions. Or there might be work product the firm is entitled to and wishes to retain. The lateral movement of lawyers between firms has become more common, making it essential and worthwhile for firms to develop clear policies and processes around how the movement of this information is controlled and managed. Cumulatively, information policies, processes, procedures, and controls across the disciplines can form a robust and effective Information Governance Framework. This discipline can deliver on critical strategic goals for the firm, such as risk mitigation, improved productivity, and enhanced competitiveness. This article will describe some of the issues involved and provide more detail about how firms can develop or strengthen their Information Governance Framework. But first, let's look at what law firms are already doing in this space. Large law's adoption of IG eSentio Technologies conducts biannual research among its clients to better understand how law firms engage with IG. The clients we survey have between 400 to 4,000

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