Concept
Retention and legal holds
How long the firm keeps each class of record, the nightly review list, two person destruction, and holds that stop it.
The retention schedule
Every period the firm keeps records for is a line on its Retention schedule, under Settings. Each line says how long, whether that is the least the firm must keep or the life of the record, the day it counts from, and the law or rule behind it. The periods ship with sensible defaults and their sources; the firm's own lawyer may change them, and each change is audited.
A matter's file is dated from its own type's years when it is archived. A type that names no period keeps its files indefinitely, as wills, deeds and titles are.
The review list
Each night the system lists records that have passed their day under Due for review. It destroys nothing. For each, someone decides to keep it longer, with a reason, or to ask for destruction.
Destruction takes two people
One person asks and a second approves. The destruction is recorded with a certificate of what was destroyed and by whose decision.
Legal holds
A hold over a matter, a party or a class of document suspends retention for everything it covers:
- nothing it covers is destroyed;
- an erasure asked for under a data subject request is refused;
- a hold over a class of document also covers documents filed after it was placed.
Placing and lifting a hold are both audited.
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- Close and archive a matterWork the closure checklist, clear what blocks the close, close the matter, and archive it so its file is dated for retention.
- Deleted records and restoreNothing a person deletes is destroyed. It is marked with who, when and why, stays readable on its own page, and can be restored.
- Data subject requestsLog, verify, locate and answer a request under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), within the firm's time, with every step on the record.