Gain an understanding of how to ethically handle digital documents while maintaining confidentiality of client information.
Lawyers have always needed to organize enormous amounts of information and documents - those we receive from clients, from opposing parties, from co-counsel and collaborators, and our own documentation. We are obligated to preserve many of those kinds of information, securely, for a long or even indefinite period of time. But a client file is no longer just a folder stuffed full of documents. It contains multitudes of information generated by, and able to be stored in many different platforms. In this presentation, we’ll look from several angles at how lawyers can ethically cope with the challenges of modern document handling. We’ll discuss what the Model Rules of Professional Conduct require, and how cutting-edge technology can help lawyers not just comply, but thrive.
Agenda
What’s a Client File at This Point?
- Ensure That Materials Sent to You Make It in to the File
- Not Just Keeping in Outlook
- Storage Capacity Issues
- File Retention Policies in Your Jurisdiction - Il SCR 769
Difficulty of Storing Materials Produced by Clients Across Different Platforms
- Ethical Rules Involved: 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.16, 5.3
- Communications - Emails, Texts, Whatsapp et al.
- Production Issues - Simply Retrieving and Reproducing
- Litigation Hold Issues
Keeping Lawyer’s Own Communications With Clients Organized and Retrievable
- Technological Methods to Enhance Compliance With Rule 1.4
- Text Messages - Convenient, but…
- Recapping Texts With Follow-up Emails: Pro and Con
- Emojis and Other Non-Verbal Communication
Client Portals: The End-All Be-All?
- Client Comfort With Format
- Portal vs. Dropbox et al.
- AI Aspects of Portals or Other Document Storage Solutions?
Speakers
James A. Doppke, Jr.,
Robinson Stewart Montgomery & Doppke LLC- Partner at the firm of Robinson Stewart Montgomery & Doppke LLC
- Disciplinary prosecutor at the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission for 14 years
- Private practitioner representing lawyers in disciplinary matters since 2013
- Consultant for lawyers on ethical issues, professional relationships, and alternative business structures
- Expert witness on ethical issues in legal malpractice cases
- Presenter and participant at numerous MCLE events, including those focusing on technolo-gy, e-discovery, and artificial intelligence
- Frequent guest on Technically Legal podcast
Who Should Attend
This live webinar is designed for attorneys. Other legal professionals may also benefit from attending.
