10 Best Practices

For Matter Centricity

Improve adoption of the electronic

file and mitigate risk

Limit IT bottlenecks

Any step that requires

IT is a barrier to

adoption

• Automate the

management of the

electronic matter file

• Allow foldering rules to be

modified as users get

more sophisticated

1

Designate an

owner for every

matter

Put ownership of the

electronic file into the

hands of the people who

know the matter best

Responsible lawyer

and staff

• Paralegal

• Secretary

• Clerk

2

Enable users to

easily secure a

folder to the entire

matter team

Support privacy laws and

confidentiality policies

without IT support

3

Require a minimal

number of folders

at matter opening

• Working Drafts(work-in-process documents)

• Correspondence (email and scanned letters)

• Matter Administration(firm-owned content such as

engagement letter, notes,

bills)

4

Make it easy to

tailor the file

structure to the

matter

• Give lawyers the

ability to add folders

and subfolders

• Keep it simple by

limiting the folder

structure to three

levels:

– Root folder

– Sub folder

– Sub sub folder

5

Support flexible

naming standards

to reflect the needs

of different practice

areas

• Fixed names (Deposition)

• Fixed names with prefix(Smith Deposition)

• Fixed names with suffix(Correspondence 2012)

• Complete user-defined

flexibility

6

Don’t make email

“public”

• Secure email to the

matter team

• Employ a hybrid

security model to

balance transparency

and privacy

– Make work-in-progress

“public” to everyone in

the firm

– Secure email and

“finished” content to

the matter team

7

Ensure consistency

in re-filing and a

single home location

for documents

• Disable end-user re-file

operation in WorkSite

• Remove “Add to Folder”

command from FileSite

and DeskSite

• Put the re-file operation

on the server and define

specific business rules for

re-filing

8

Make it easy for

users to access

and import content

• Make it a smooth, solid

workflow that does not

require IT support

• Make your DMS

available to all

applications, including

Internet Explorer

• Make your DMS

available from a variety

of devices, including

Macs and tablets

9

Prevent unintended

consequences

arising from

premature deletions

Give users a mechanism

that allows them to stage

documents for deletion and

recover them without IT

support

10

LEARN MORE

• Printable brief: 10 Best Practices for Matter Centricity

• Slideshare: Rethinking Matter Centricity

• Slideshare: Hybrid Security Model