Tie retirement to holds, obligations and media disposition
Closing a matter does not automatically authorize deletion. Confirm litigation holds, engagement terms, court orders, professional duties, client instructions and the firm’s retention schedule. Deleting a locker entry is not proof that underlying media was sanitized.
At matter close, the coordinator inventories the working archive, backups, production copies and recipient handoffs. Responsible counsel clears holds and retention duties, approves disposition by copy class, and the firm records deletion or media sanitization results.
Run the control in five steps
- 01Inventory every working, backup and transferred copy.
- 02Check holds, orders, client terms and retention schedules.
- 03Assign keep, return, delete or sanitize disposition by copy.
- 04Use an approved method appropriate to the media and risk.
- 05Record exceptions and obtain accountable closure approval.
Preserve a defensible decision trail
Keep matter ID, copy class, location, hold check, authority, disposition method, date, operator, verification, exception and approver. Retain only the minimum proof needed for accountability.
Stop and investigate when
- A case-status change triggers automatic deletion.
- A locker deletion is described as guaranteed sanitization.
- Recipient copies or backups are absent from the inventory.
State what the control does not prove
Does not replace provider permissions, guaranteed backup, password recovery or enterprise identity management. Validate preservation, authorization, plaintext copies, provider controls and recovery separately.
Legal discovery security questions
Can the firm delete discovery when the matter closes?
Only after the responsible owner confirms applicable holds and retention duties.
Is ordinary deletion secure erasure?
Not necessarily. Use a method matched to the storage media and policy.
Sources for this decision
Links support specific control decisions and do not imply endorsement.