Law Practice Essentials

When a file is ready to be closed and stored, the following considerations may be helpful and referenced as a checklist.

Lawyers should: 

__   Develop and adhere to policies that govern what will be retained in a hard copy file, and what electronic records will be maintained, both during the life of the file and at its conclusion. While the Rules of the Law Society previously required retention of hard copies of some elements of the trust accounting, those rules have changed. The information must be retrievable rather than stored on site. See Rule 119.35(1). 
__   Develop a system to organize and save emails and attachments.  
__   Determine whether file materials should be stored, destroyed, returned to client, delivered to a third party or transferred to another lawyer who will be assuming the obligation to store them. 
__   Return valuable and/or original records to the client. 
__   List the records returned to the client in a final reporting letter. 
__   Advise clients of the file destruction date. 
__   Remove all duplicates from the file. 
__   Keep case law separate so it can be easily discarded when closing the file. However, it may be helpful to keep a list of research sources for the file.  
__   Consider keeping research memos or pleadings as precedents for future use and remove any identifying information and clean metadata. 
__   Keep anything on a file which allows the lawyer to answer a potential claim – advice given, instructions received, decisions, drafts of documents which evidence instructions received to amend them.  
__   Consider the cost of file storage and retrieval and advise the client throughout.  
__   Make the final decisions about what file materials to remove or destroy.   
__   Consider destroying documents which can be obtained from public records, such as documents filed at the land titles office, or pleadings filed with the court.   
__   Where your client has lost interest in their matter, advise them clearly and in writing that you are withdrawing from representation (formally if required), the file is being closed, and clearly set out any upcoming deadlines.   
__   Check for funds in trust. 
__   Check for outstanding undertakings and trust conditions. 
__   Choose a date for destruction and note this when you close the file. 
__   Schedule a review date if you are unsure when to destroy a file. 
__   Confirm the firm’s intentions with your closed files if you are leaving a firm. 
__   Retain records identifying the files that are closed and destroyed. 
__   Develop a policy regarding who will have access to closed files. 
__   Confirm the security and confidentiality of files if storing them off-site or digitally. 
__   Consider whether you need insurance for stored files.