Information governance and the protection of corporate data are top concerns of General Counsels—and clients are now tying payment to compliance with outside counsel guidelines to ensure their standards are met. Improper information governance is costing firms protracted payment cycles, writes-offs – and in the worst cases, loss of clients.
Firms can better deliver on clients’ needs through an effective IG program; specifically gaining these process improvements:
- Greater visibility into information assets (defined location and classification)
- Proper access control and security of information (use of firm-sanctioned systems with permissions)
- Ability to migrate to an electronic-first mind-set and cut down on paper (official record in electronic format in the system of record whenever possible, with exceptions for policy carve-outs)
- Defined user expectations by role for proper file maintenance (electronic and paper)
- Ability to locate and purge information per retention schedules (application of policy to all documents regardless of location or media)
- Reduction in off-site storage needs and costs (destruction of legacy documents, a decrease in future documents going off-site, and purging of remaining off-site records per retention schedules)
- Auditing protocols in place to ensure defensibility
Mattern assists firms get these programs off the ground and gain necessary buy-in from key stakeholders.
One recent firm implemented a program whereby application of retention schedules allowed for purging of disparate electronic data stores, consolidation of information into a single system of record, and destruction of legacy off-site holdings which will net the firm savings of over a half-million dollars in the next 10 years. In addition to this hard savings are the softer benefits of greater information visibility and risk mitigation involved in handling of sensitive client documents.
Click here to reach out to the experts at Mattern to discuss your specific situation.