Peer to Peer Magazine

PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 10 BEST PRACTICES appropriately results in lower information management costs and more effective collaboration. Here are six critical steps to implementing a uniform approach to managing information that will bring your users into the fold. Make the Folder Structure Work For the User. Start with a simple folder structure at the inception of the matter. Firms with high adoption rates define a small number of folders required for each matter and then let users add folders as needed. I suggest the following three folders: • Working Drafts for work-in- progress documents • Correspondence for email or scanned images of physical correspondence About the Author Keith Lipman, Esq., President of Prosperoware LLC, is a well-regarded expert in the areas of information management and e-discovery, and he has been involved in information management for over 19 years. Prior to his work with Prosperoware, Keith served in numerous capacities, including paralegal, lawyer, IT director in a law firm and technology consultant to law firms. He is a frequent speaker and author on the topics of e-discovery and the management of email, documents and records. Keith can be reached at keith@prosperoware.com. Adopting E-File Best Practices and Conf identiality Management In law firms, documents are the key output of the service provided, with the client typically owning a large percentage of the documents and email produced. That simple fact, combined with the reality of the hacker threat, is creating tremendous pressure on firms to demonstrate the quality of their information governance processes and controls. How do you make security bullet-proof without breaking workflows and limiting productivity? Frustrated users work outside the designated systems, bypassing security controls, when it is a matter of getting their work done. Can you run a law firm when you have to lock down 40 to 100 percent of your data? The answer is, yes. However, it requires discipline around how information is treated through its life cycle: how it is organized, secured, retained and discovered. The key lies in aligning the adoption of the electronic file and confidentiality management — the two interconnected processes that have the greatest effect on security. SIX STEPS TO FACILITATE ADOPTION If users are not filing content in the appropriate location, all other processes are less effective and less secure. Making it easy for users to file documents • Matter Administration for firm-owned content such as the engagement letter, bills, lawyer notes, etc. In addition, each practice area (i.e., people who need to work together) should be allowed to define the naming standards they want to use, which could range from allowing complete customization at all levels to maintaining a limited list of standard folder names to facilitate collaboration. Add Root Folders. Lawyers need the ability to add root-level folders and subfolders that enable them to tailor the file structure to fit the requirements of the matter. To keep this from getting out of hand, the folder structure for any matter should be limited to only three levels: root folders, subfolders and sub-subfolders. Make Collaboration Work. Firms should require some level of naming standards to enable effective collaboration and communication among people working on a matter. Naming standards include:

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