Old files have always been a problem for businesses, and law practices are no exception. How long should you keep files? What do you do with them when you no longer want to keep them? What should you do with them in the meantime? Do you have to lease extra office or storage space because your old files have outgrown your file cabinets? Whether you are a small legal practice or a multi-national Fortune 100 company, the records management issues you face will be the same, even if somewhat different in magnitude. A document retention policy is designed to help you address these issues.

Tom Ferguson will be speaking at a session titled Designing a Compliant Record Retention Policy and discuss the benefits record retention can provide:

• Assure compliance with legal obligations to maintain records for a specified period of time.
• Allow a systematic inventory and process for managing documents.
• Provide for the destruction of documents that have outlived their needed life.
• Assure consistency in what records are maintained.
• Provide a system that enhances the efficiency of document collection for discovery.