All member and affiliated attorneys of IPfever, LLC (hereinafter “Attorneys”) individually and independently retain records in connection to their legal representation of their clients (“Clients”) under this Record Retention Policy (“Policy”).
Clients who are reviewing this document are encouraged to keep a copy of this document.
Updates and Changes
This Policy may be updated or changed, but such updates and changes do not apply to former or current Clients who retained Attorneys before they were posted here.
Purpose
This Policy ensures that Clients’ important documents and the record of their communication with their attorneys are safely kept by Attorneys.
What constitutes Records?
Clients’ direct communication with an Attorney and any electronic and non-electronic documents and articles that demonstrate Clients’ intellectual property right constitute records of Clients (hereinafter “Records”) if (1) they are generated or received by an Attorney in relation to legal service provided to the Clients; (2) the legal service performed was within the scope of representation set forth in a signed letter of engagement or retainer agreement; and (3) the generation or receipt occurred after the execution of the letter or agreement and before the withdrawal, completion, or termination of the legal representation.
Recordkeeping
Non-electronic Records are secured in a reasonably safe place for the duration of representation as follows:
- they are individually marked with a unique client number (or equivalent identifying information) or jointly organized in a file or folder;
- unless they have legal distinction or significance as originals, they can be scanned or photographed to produce an electronic record, after which the originals can be destroyed or returned to clients; and
- they are logged in a separate document as to their stored locations and dates of generation or receipt, provided that if the stored location is a typical place where the majority of files are kept within an office space, the location information may be omitted.
Electronic Records are securely stored in a storage system that only the people who need to retrieve, view, delete, or make copies of the Records in the ordinary course of business have access. The storage system may be located outside an office to be accessed via internet provided that the connection to and from the storage system is private and password-protected. As long as the storage system is internally indexed or searchable, electronic Records’ stored locations or dates of generation or receipt need not be logged in a separate document.
Duration
In general, all Records are retained for a minimum of three years after an end of legal representation for any reason. At an expiration of the three year period, Attorneys review the logs of Records to determine the need of extending retention period of the expired Records for another three year period.
Expiration
Any Records that no longer require recordkeeping or retention can be destroyed at any time. Destruction of Records is supervised by Attorneys, and any confidential information is rendered indecipherable in the course of the destruction.
In case of transfer or succession of legal representation, as soon as the transfer of Records is completed, this Policy does not apply to the transferred Records.
Permanent Records
Some Records need to be retained indefinitely, including names and addresses of clients. When an Attorney retires, suspends practice of law for any reason, or deceases, IPfever, LLC assigns another Attorney or a law firm to be responsible for the retention of the Records that need to be retained indefinitely.
Transfer of Records
After Records are transferred per client’s request or in accordance to the succession plan of an Attorney, the Attorney’s Records can be destroyed at any time. This Policy is not applicable to the transferred Records.