USA/Canada News
Leading law firm operations consultancy, Mattern, announces the release of their 2024 Information Governance Survey (“IG Survey”) results. The IG Survey provides law firms with first-in-kind data surrounding industry-wide practices on data retention as well as insights regarding common roadblocks to the development and implementation of information governance (IG) policies.
To request a copy of the Executive Summary, go here.
The results of the IG Survey evidence that most clients (65%) include IG requirements, namely clearly defined retention limits associated with client-provided information and firm work product, in their outside counsel guidelines.
However, despite the IG Survey illustrating that 94% of firms have IG policies of some form in place, 54% of respondents report struggling to comply with outside counsel guidelines, while almost no firms (4%) reported strict program compliance when the lens is placed on policy enforcement. Potentially even more telling is the substantial non-compliance reported by firms (44%) with an endemic culture of “granting exceptions” (31%).
Leigh Isaacs, CIGO, DLA Piper, comments: “The importance and visibility of information governance continues to grow and as a result law firms are evolving to support it. This survey provides a comprehensive view into how firms are responding to this changing environment. The findings will be useful for firms at any level of IG maturity and helpful for benchmarking and strategic planning. Thanks to Mattern for investing the time and resources to provide such a valuable resource to the law firm IG community.”
Mattern Consultant, Nathan Curtis, IGP, comments: “The 2024 IG Survey was borne out of a question we at Mattern are commonly asked, “What are our peers doing?” Our objective was to establish industry benchmarks to answer this question in granular detail – how firms are addressing email retention, network share appropriate use and security, and matter mobility to name a few. This information will be invaluable for IG professionals in justifying best practices to program sponsors that help move programs from concept to implementation.”
Company President, Rob Mattern, adds, “The results of the survey are consistent with what we are seeing in the marketplace. As most firms view it as an issue, we see it as an opportunity to streamline paper and electronic records management and implement an Information Governance policy with retention that will make the overall operation much more efficient and cost-effective.”
The IG Survey is the first of its kind, targeting the legal market and taking an in depth look at the specific IG practices within law firms. Mattern launched the survey in Q3 2023 after review and commentary from Leigh Isaacs, CIGO of DLA Piper. Fifty law firms participated, ranging in size from 21 to 3,000 attorneys.
More detailed information on the results across policy, compliance and enforcement, retention and retention triggers, digitization practices, matter mobility, and software applications is available by contacting Mattern here.
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