subject: Shredding Legal Documents Increases Corporate Security [print this page] Sometimes, people think that the shredding of legal documents means that something illegal is being done. The truth is, that most of the time the exact opposite situation is taking place. Any document records management firm should be able to explain to you that there are actually laws which require that certain types of documents be shredded regularly. When it business, it is important to either be familiar with these laws, or to work with a firm who is, so that you can shred regularly and keep your company out of trouble by doing so.
There are a number of reasons that legal documents need to be shredded. Most of these reasons relate to confidentiality and privacy laws. Lawyers and legal firms are required by law to protect the privacy of their clients. The only way to do this for sure in many cases is to destroy documents. Otherwise, despite the best efforts which are made, there could still be a leak of that private information at some point in time in the future.
Many companies have been sued in the past because information which did not belong to them was leaked to the wrong party. Not only does this mean information which belongs to the clients of legal companies, but also that which belongs to employees. If any information about an employee, such as a credit check, is obtained by a company, they are legally bound to protect that information as well. This is why legal firms will shred all documentation of this type, because they know how the privacy laws work.
That is probably why it is found that legal firms shred so much paper than so many other types of companies. As professionals who are intimately familiar with the law, they know what steps need to be taken in order to ensure that they have reduced their own liability as much as possible. That is probably also why more often than not legal firms use on site shredding services for their shredding needs.
An onsite shredding company is one that comes to you to destroy your documents rather than having your paperwork shipped to them. This is the more secure model of document destruction. When using an onsite shredder it is clear who is touching your documents. It is also possible to monitor the documents during the shredding process, and to receive instant verification that a thorough job has been done of destroying the paperwork in question.
