GASTOS DEL GOBIERNO NACIONAL
ELECTRO PUNO
Following initial contact, some legal institutions were selected for in-depth case studies which could be used as exemplars for other legal institutions wishing to manage and dispose of their records more systematically. A number of case studies were undertaken and completed.1
6.1 Case study 1: Records and recordkeeping in a legal publishing house
Undertaken just prior to the official commencement of the LRAR project in September 2015, this pilot project set out to survey the paper and born-digital records of a legal publishing house based in the south-east of England. It sought to identify records of archival value and to make recommendations about their permanent retention. At the time of writing LRAR is still trying to persuade the publishing house to transfer its historic records to a local authority archives. Value to the LRAR project: the case study clearly showed that legal publishers create and maintain records of potential research value.
Value to the organisation of collaborating in the case study: the organisation advised that the survey and recommendations were useful, and the resulting positive will to manage records better should result in an improvement of recordkeeping practices, especially around electronic records. There was an increased understanding in the organisation of the historic importance of its early and accruing record series.
6.2 Case study 2: Alternative dispute resolution records held in the TfL
Corporate Archives
Completed in May 2016, this case study was undertaken to discover the extent of legal records, specifically alternative dispute resolution (ADR) records, in a business archives. The particular aim was to support the hypothesis that many legal records are located within business archives and must therefore be searched for under their business context. Value to the LRAR project: the case study clearly showed that corporate archives do keep legal records where these are seen as pertinent to the core functions of the business and that they will readily make them available to researchers as soon as is appropriate (in other words once confidentiality and/or privacy issues have expired).
Value to TfL of collaborating in the case study: apart from the obvious value in generating publicity for the TfL Corporate Archives and its records, the study gave the Archives some external validation of its processes and resources. It also reassured the Archives staff that in the paper world they were not missing out on the acquisition of TfL’s legal records, because LRAR’s interview with the Head of TfL Legal demonstrated that the Legal department’s process for disposing of paper records concurs with the current procedure of the Archives, which is to review and select records for the Archives from those deposited by the department in TfL’s external storage facility. Finally, the leverage of an external body (especially one like the IALS) enabled access and conversations with TfL Legal that the Archives had often been hitherto unable to provoke, so they benefitted from the investigative work that LRAR undertook with them. It also gave the Archives an avenue to follow up on how to capture digital records in the future.2
6.3 Case study 3: The records of Chadwick Lawrence Solicitors
Completed in November 2016, the purpose of this case study was to survey the records and recordkeeping practices of a law firm based outside London which employed a professional archivist/records manager so as to evaluate the business benefits of employing professionally qualified persons to manage records.
Value to the LRAR project: the case study demonstrated conclusively LRAR’s (and archives/records management pressure groups’) thesis that there are clear business benefits to law firms in employing a professionally qualified records manager to a) tidy up legacy records b) create efficient procedures for managing records going forward and c) set up an in-house archives and records store serving the firm and, potentially, the public.
Value to Chadwick Lawrence of collaborating in the case study: the publication of the case study surely generated good public relations for the firm, demonstrating as it did how excellent its internal procedures for managing and disposing of records are. The value of the archives in providing information on request to departments within the firm was also a clear business benefit.
1 For the full case study reports see Appendix X.
6.4 Case study 4: Sub-project on domestic construction arbitration records
Completed in August 2017, this project was a preliminary exploration and feasibility study for a potential project in respect of arbitration records located in Great Britain/England and Wales.The report of the sub-project concluded that:
• There are construction – and other – arbitration records which may be at risk.
• A wider survey needs to be undertaken of arbitral organisations’ and individual arbitrators’ records and archival homes identified for them.
Value to the LRAR project: a better understanding of just which categories of arbitration records may be at risk and the need for further research.
Value to researchers of arbitration: a better awareness of the gaps in preservation of arbitration records and the issues around confidentiality which may be hindering further research.
6.5 Case study 5: Records of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC)
Undertaken during 2016/17, the purpose of this case study was to gain an overview of the kinds of records held by a legal regulator, to understand the business drivers behind the management of its records and to demonstrate the business benefits to the CLC of making provision for the preservation of its archives.
Value to the LRAR project: the case study demonstrated the considerable amount of material of research value – primarily born-digital – held by the CLC and showed how keeping accurate metadata on records facilitates their eventual transfer to an archives. At the time of writing LRAR is hoping to broker an agreement for the transfer of CLC’s records on an ongoing basis to LMA; this means that an important set of legal regulator’s records will not be at risk of loss.
Value to the CLC of collaborating in the case study: the publication of this case study will provide external validation of the CLC’s recordkeeping processes which are necessary to perform its regulatory function. LRAR’s findings are that the CLC should be seen as a role model for other legal institutions, regulatory or otherwise, in its commitment to openness and transparency, its willingness to make its records available to the public as early as possible and its understanding that today’s business record may be tomorrow’s historical record and therefore needs to be managed and preserved.
6.6 Case study 6: Selected records of an intervened law firm in the Oxfordshire
area
This case study, separately financed, was intended as a preliminary exploration and feasibility study for a major project to investigate a larger sample of records in the Intervention Archives managed by the SRA, to find archival homes for them and to draft an ongoing process to assist the SRA in disposing of records of value to archive repositories. It followed on from an earlier project by the BRA from 2012–14 to identify historical documents held by the SRA and arrange for their transfer to appropriate record offices. During the project about 500 cartons of records were examined and records of value identified (mostly client documents).3 In 2016 LRAR and the BRA were represented on an interview panel to select a part-time fixed term archivist to arrange the transfer of the identified records to repositories.
LRAR had also discussed the Intervention Archives with the SRA in an attempt to provide some practical assistance, such as drafting standard terms of deposit to avoid the SRA having to negotiate different agreements with each archives. The case study itself was undertaken in 2017 and a confidential report sent to the SRA.
Value to the LRAR project: a better understanding of the issues the SRA faces when intervening in firms which have failed to manage their records effectively and the consequent problems faced by legal regulators such as the SRA in protecting the rights of users of legal services, including having to allocate considerable resources to keeping and managing intervened records for as long as necessary to fulfil obligations to users.
Value to the SRA of collaborating in the case study: LRAR noted the difficulties the SRA faces in its laudable attempts to deposit intervened records of value with archive repositories. Each repository has its own terms of deposit; LRAR is advocating that the Records at Risk group draft a standard agreement for deposit of records which will reduce the burden on organisations like the SRA of negotiating separate deposits each time.
3 Nat Alcock and Penelope Baker, ‘The original documents project undertaken by the British Records Association and the Solicitors Regulation Authority/Law Society’, Archives Vol 1 no 130–1 (BRA, 2015).
6.7 Case study 7: Census of providers of legal services in Oxfordshire, 1900–
present day
Commencing in April 2017 and separately financed, this case study aimed to map all private sector institutions specialised to law in Oxford and environs from 1900 to the present. At the time of writing this has not been completed, but much of the data will be useful for a new project on private sector records in Oxfordshire which may be at risk.4
6.8 Unsuccessful: case study of records of Inns of Court Barristers’ Chambers
There is no doubt whatsoever that Chambers now have – or should have if they are following the Bar Council’s and the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks’ own guidance5 on records creation and management – quite a lot of material of potential research value. LRAR sought to engage with some of the Inns of Court Chambers in order to undertake one or two case studies with a view to brokering agreements for depositing Chambers records in the LMA. The Inns of Court Librarians and Archivists demonstrated support for the case studies and the Inner Temple Archivist worked to facilitate contacts with Chambers Practice Managers. Individual members of the Selden Society also tried to facilitate meetings between LRAR and Chambers or barristers. Unfortunately, however, all these attempts proved to be fruitless; records of barristers’ chambers continue to remain a mystery.6.9 Case study conclusions
The case studies demonstrated that:• Legal records are readily available in company archives and must be searched for within their business context.
• Many of the business records of legal institutions are of potential research value and worth preserving.
• Legal institutions may be reluctant to deposit their records in an archive repository for a variety of reasons including confidentiality, loss of control, cost or simply a lack of interest in their own legal heritage.
4 This project commenced in December 2018 with funding from UCL Faculty of Laws. 5 For details see Appendix VIII.