Across the UK, more than 10,000 solicitors’ practices remain heavily reliant on paper-based records. We estimate that more than 250 million boxes of these legal documents are stored in various locations, including offices, lofts, basements, and unsecured spaces. The extensive reliance on physical records presents a unique challenge: each box contains sensitive personal data that could lead to breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), if they are not managed properly.
As the legal sector faces increasing scrutiny over data protection and privacy, it’s crucial for solicitors to view GDPR not merely as a regulatory hurdle but as an opportunity to enhance client trust and operational efficiency.
Solicitors understand the critical importance of maintaining ‘accurate, contemporaneous, and chronological records,’ a key professional responsibility enforced by The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). However, ensuring GDPR compliance of such a large volume of physical legal documents is no small feat. Our experience has shown that compliance is much simpler when solicitors implement structured records management practices that make data retrieval and security more accessible.
As the preferred records management partner of the SRA, we bring the expertise to manage the security, accessibility and retention of your legal documents, providing assurance that your practice complies fully with GDPR.
How GDPR applies to your legal practice
Non-compliance with GDPR can result in significant fines, so it’s important that all relevant staff within your practice are aware of the specific data protection requirements. These include:
- Minimisation: Only collect personal data that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for each legal purpose.
- Confidentiality and security: Ensure personal data is protected with suitable encryption, access controls, and secure storage solutions.
- Retention: Retain personal data only as long as necessary to fulfil your legal obligations and professional duties. Once data is no longer required, it must be securely deleted or anonymised.
- Data subject rights: Clients must be able to exercise their GDPR rights, including requests for access to, corrections of, and deletion of their personal data. Balancing these rights with legal privilege and confidentiality obligations is essential to upholding both GDPR and professional standards.
Knowing how long data has been held and being able to access it efficiently are central to GDPR compliance. Yet, we often see practices holding onto legal records because retrieving them is too costly. This creates a risk of documents being neglected, which in itself could breach GDPR.
For solicitors’ practices looking to ease their transition into GDPR compliance, a phased approach works best. Start by locating all records and implementing a centralised records management process. This foundation can then be enhanced by indexing legal documents and applying appropriate retention dates. To maximise value, AI powered data mining and data extraction can be applied.
Helping you comply with GDPR
We recognise that paper records remain an integral part of the legal profession. With extensive experience working alongside the SRA, including assisting practices in record recovery, digitisation, and storage following sudden closures, we have developed a comprehensive system to support your legal documents management. We have the people, processes and technology in place to reduce administrative burdens, reclaim valuable office space, and control costs, while importantly giving you confidence that you comply with GDPR.
Our services include:
- Collection, secure transportation, and storage: We manage the entire process, from collecting your paper records to transporting them securely and storing them in a protected environment.
- Indexing: We index your legal documents, making them easily retrievable, so you have fast and efficient access when needed.
- Retention management: We manage retention periods to prevent you from holding legal records longer than necessary, ensuring GDPR compliance.
- Digitisation of physical records: We can also digitise your paper records, making them easier to access and reducing reliance on physical storage.
Balancing GDPR with remote and hybrid working
As remote and hybrid working becomes more common, it is crucial to remember that GDPR extends to any personal data printed or stored at home. Our electronic document management services ensure digital copies of records can be accessed centrally. By employing AI to optimise search functions, we improve efficiency and reduce the burden on professionals. Having secure storage reduces the risks associated with legal paper documents that are kept offsite, offering protection regardless of where work takes place.
Partnering with us for peace of mind
Looking ahead, GDPR compliance is increasingly converging with digital transformation in the legal sector. As AI and advanced digital records management become standard practice, many forward-thinking legal firms are adopting technology that not only ensures compliance but also enhances client service.
Partnering with us gives you the confidence that your records are expertly managed, enabling you to focus on what truly matters: serving your clients and advancing your practice.
Talk to us about how we can support your practice in achieving GDPR compliance:
Neil Skellham
Business Development Manager, Capita
Neil is a customer focussed Business Development Manager with a passion for delivering value to clients through automation and digitisation of inbound and outbound customer communications.
