Why does information governance become more complex for law firms?

by Proteus Discovery Legal services and consulting firm specializing in

Information governance differs from person to person. When the industry's leading company, the Information Governance Initiative(IGI), urged association members to help define the term, respondents agreed that there were a variety of activities that fall into the category of IG.

Information Governance Challenges for Law Firms

There are many problems that are unique to the internal settings of the law firm, but there are some problems that most share. Here are the big issues we've heard over the years:

1. Where are Information governance policies stored?

Regarding technology, the legal industry is not the most innovative sector. As a result, it is not uncommon to find policies in three-ring binders, email, file sharing, or document management systems. Companies that are not easily accessible face numerous challenges in managing and making information governance policies viable.

2. Are you complying with external advisor guidelines?

This issue is related to where External Committee Guidelines(OCG)are stored. If an employee cannot find an OCG, it is difficult to continuously enforce, monitor, and control policies. Most companies do not have a streamlined process for tracking and managing OCG while introducing new businesses. This makes it virtually impossible to follow OCG policies once the problem progresses.

3. What is our compliance track record?

Often, employees know that the company has an information governance policy. However, they cannot identify how closely and consistently the policy is being adhered to. The company may be doing an outstanding job with electronics. However, information governance compliance with physical records may have fallen down the side road. Many companies lack effective ways to monitor compliance across all repositories. And they were overwhelmed by the idea of catching up with the backlog.

4. Can I measure my progress in compliance?

This problem is related to the backlog of physical and electronic records. As firms implement change with information governance, it is important to see progress toward 100% compliance. The problem is that most companies can't measure how compliant they are. Does the company comply with 40%? 80% compliant? It is common for businesses to dispose of 10,000 boxes of records. This means excessive storage costs and unnecessary risks.

5. To what extent is the company's audit evidence?

Without efficient information governance strategies, companies are threatened by future audits. Regulated industries such as financial services, government agencies, and pharmaceuticals have formed cooperatives to create detailed industry-specific OCGs. In recent years, these co-operatives have signed agreements with auditors to assess compliance, and their scope has increasingly expanded to law firms. However, most law firms lack the ability to respond quickly to customer audits and generate the necessary audit trails.

6. Can disposition be defended?

Everything is to ensure that the disposal of the company's records is defensible. This is the main concern of most companies today. Without a simplified method for managing and tracking information governance and compliance companies lack easily accessible retention and disposal histories. As a result, when an audit occurs, it is almost impossible to quickly generate an audit trail.