Ever time I hear about a data purge, from anywhere, I get nervous.
It inherently feels like losing something, even if it is something I never used, and might not even be sure what it is I am losing.
Think of cleaning out your basement and finding an unopened and unlabeled box from when you first moved in.
Not many people would throw it out without opening it first, even though you clearly didn’t need or miss it for a long time.
This is the same instinct that makes me nervous about data purges.
However, when the American Arbitration Association recently revealed that they will be permanently deleting roughly a decade of data and records I was calm as can be.
The reason is that my office has never depended on AAA, or their website, for tracking, or cataloging records in any way.
We have an independent system within our secure server that allows us to access 100% of our clients data reaching back to before the firm was founded.
This has allowed us to support clients’ in house billing reviews reaching back with clarity and accuracy to cases from the early 2000’s.
It allowed us to provide scans of checks to clients on cases that closed in 2009 when they needed to undergo an audit.
Essentially, because we run our office to be independent and transparent to our clients and are able to answer questions on cases no matter how long ago they closed, the announcement didn’t ruffle a single feather.