Playbook, law firm
Delete everything you hold about me, sent to a solicitors' firm
In most trades this request is awkward. Here it collides with three separate obligations at once, and none of them is discretionary. The file has to be kept for a defined period after the matter closes, the identity evidence has to be kept because a regulator says so, and the record used to run conflict checks exists precisely so the firm can recognise a name years later. An assistant that answers with a cheerful yes has committed the firm to something it must not do.
Why this is not the general answer
The handling pattern for data deletion requests holds across every trade. What follows is the part that does not.
- A firm keeps a closed file for a retention period that runs from closure rather than from instruction, and the period differs by work type, so the honest answer starts with what kind of matter it was.
- The conflict record is the awkward one, because its whole purpose is to hold names so the firm can tell, years later, that it once acted against somebody, and deleting it would defeat the check it exists to perform.
- Identity and source of funds evidence is retained under anti money laundering rules for a fixed period, which means the very documents somebody most wants removed are the ones with a stated minimum life.
- Original documents held in storage, wills, deeds and the like, are not a data question at all: they are the client's property and come back through a different request with different identity checks.
How it arrives
- can you delete everything you hold about me
- my matter closed years ago why have you still got my file
- can i have my deeds and my will back
- do you have to keep the id i gave you
- i want my name taken off your system
- who do i write to about my data
What has to be indexed for this to work
| Your retention schedule, per work type | How long a closed file is kept for conveyancing, family, probate, litigation and any other department, measured from closure, and what happens at the end of it. Firms hold these internally and rarely publish them, which is why this question turns into a call. |
|---|---|
| Why the conflict record persists | A short explanation, written for a client rather than for a compliance officer, of what is held to run a conflict check and why it is not removed with the file. This is the part that sounds evasive unless somebody explains the mechanism. |
| The minimum retention that applies to identity and funds evidence | The period your jurisdiction sets, and the fact that it applies whether or not the client went on to instruct you. Prospective clients who never became clients ask this most often and are the most surprised by the answer. |
| How to ask for original documents back | What is held in storage, who may collect a will or a set of deeds, what identity is needed, whether a fee applies and how much notice storage requires. Separate this page from anything about data, because it answers a different request entirely. |
The reply
I can tell you how this works, though I cannot look up anything held about you. Closed files are kept for a set period that depends on the type of matter, and we hold identity evidence for a minimum period because we are required to [1]. We also keep a limited record of names so we can run conflict checks properly in future, which is why a request to remove everything is not one we can agree to in full [2]. Requests go to the person named in our privacy notice. If you want originals such as a will or deeds back, that is a separate request and I can explain what it needs.
It refuses the broad request in the first half rather than after a paragraph of goodwill, since a client who is told yes and then no has been treated worse than one told no at the start. Each limit is given with the reason attached, because without the mechanism the refusal reads as obstruction. Splitting out the originals matters, since that request usually can be granted and it is often what the person actually wanted.
Where it stops
The trigger. The visitor asks what is held about them specifically, names a matter or a former fee earner, or says the request is connected to a dispute with the firm or with another party.
I cannot see what we hold about you or act on a request here. Requests go to the contact named in our privacy notice, so leave me your name and an email and I will make sure it reaches them.
It stops answering before it guesses, says who will pick it up, and asks for the one thing that makes a reply possible. Nothing about it reads as a dead end.
Never say this here
Out of bounds
- Never confirm that a file, a record or a document about the person exists, because doing so confirms the firm once acted, which is itself confidential.
- Never say data has been deleted, will be deleted, or has already gone, since nothing said here reaches any system that holds it.
- Never quote a retention period as though it were the same across the firm, when it differs by department and by document type.
- Never suggest that identity or source of funds evidence can be removed on request during its required retention period.
Questions
- Can it handle the request itself if we connect our systems?
- No. It reads material you give it and cannot write to or search any system, so every request of this kind ends with a name and an email reaching your nominated address. What it removes is the round of messages spent explaining where to send it.
- Is publishing a retention schedule a risk?
- It is more of a risk not to. The alternative is a client hearing an improvised period from whoever picks up the phone, and inconsistent answers about how long you keep files are worse in front of a regulator than a published schedule you follow.
- Somebody who was never a client wants their enquiry deleted. Different?
- Practically yes, and the material should say so, because an enquiry that never opened a matter is not governed by your file retention schedule. Keep that distinction written down or the assistant will answer both with the longest period it can find.
Keep reading
- Everything for a law firmFee structures, consultation terms and onboarding checks are answerable. Anything applied to a caller's own facts is legal advice.
- Handling data deletion requests in generalA deletion request is a request with a clock on it, not a question. The characteristic failure is silence, so it always has to reach a person.
- Can I book an appointment with a solicitor this weekA time with a fee earner depends on a conflict check, the right department and a court diary, none of which a chat window can settle.
- Office hours are the easy half of this questionReception opens before fee earners are at their desks, court takes a solicitor out for a day, and completion day runs on a banking deadline.
- Getting to the right building on the right dayDepartments sit in different buildings, originals have to be produced in person, and half these messages are really about a hearing venue.
Try it on your own material
Upload a document or point it at your site, paste one line of HTML, then ask it something only your business could answer.