The Oklahoma Bar Journal March 2024

set until the client file is closed. I favor some file destruction policy for most types of documents, but a recent conversation with an intel lectual property lawyer who does patents reminded me that there are certain types of law practices that may actually have a good reason to maintain client files for an extended period of time, maybe even permanently. Frequently, I hear from law firms wanting to scan and then destroy old, closed client files that pack storage rooms. Sadly, I usually advise caution. First, it will cost a lot of money and time to do this. It is also very possible that the result will not be perfect. Automated document feeders work very well today, but there is still the possibility they will skip a CLOSED FILES

default settings to OCR everything. While that may make the scanning process a bit slower on occasion, it means the scanner will produce searchable documents, which is well worth it, in my opinion. All documents (except Excel spreadsheets) should be stored in PDF format. These are your digital file copies. Opening docu ments in Word creates the possi bility of accidentally editing the documents. If you want to keep Word documents in the file so they can be used if an amended document is required, that is a fine idea. But I suggest you create a folder titled “Word Documents” in the digital client file to store these to prevent confusion. Documents have a life cycle, and the firm should decide on a closed file destruction policy. The date of destruction need not be

mistakes. And if you are searching for a misfiled document, one easy way to do it is by searching the com puter for a unique word or phrase that appears in the misplaced document. To accomplish that, the document must be searchable. someone that I’m going to use later, I want to make certain it is searchable. As almost every lawyer understands now, a PDF can be made searchable by applying opti cal character recognition (OCR) to make it searchable. I usually do that at an initial stage so that I can easily find it, but a growing reason now to make certain that these documents are searchable is so that your AI assistant can have access to them. If you have a sophisticated scan ner, it may be possible to set the SEARCHABLE PDF FILES When I receive a PDF from

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL