Under the Firm’s File Retention and Destruction Policy, the Firm will maintain portions of your files for seven (7) to twenty (20) years after the date the Firm closed them. The nature of the matter determines the length of time that we retain the file. After the retention period, the file and all its contents will be permanently destroyed. We will notify you when we close your file of your ability to obtain the file and the date when we will destroy the file. You may request your file and its contents at any time before it is closed or destroyed.
At any time during the representation, you may request access to or receive copies of any records or documents in our possession relating to the legal services being provided to you, excluding certain firm business or accounting records. We reserve the right, however, to retain originals or copies of any such records or documents as needed during the representation. Further, we reserve the right to charge you for the photocopying costs associated with providing you with documents that are in paper format.
During our representation of you, paper documents will be scanned, and the file will be retained electronically. Once a file has been scanned, we will simultaneously destroy the paper documents except in those instances where we are required to keep the originals by court rule. Original documents that you provided to us and/or which have significant value and are necessary to enforce your rights will be returned to you at the conclusion of the case.
For those records placed in storage after a file is closed, our Firm specifically disclaims any responsibility for claimed damages or liability arising from damage or destruction to such records and documents, whether caused by accident, natural disasters such as flood, fire, or wind damage, terrorist attacks, or the negligence of third-party providers engaged by our Firm to store and retrieve records, to the extent allowed by law.