Description: Records associated with litigation through Suffolk Law School's Clinical Programs, certified under Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03.

Examples: Records may include court pleadings, legal memoranda and briefs, depositions, judgments, drafts, client documents, and relevant notes and correspondence..

Official Record Holder/Retention Period: Suffolk Law School's Clinical Programs Department

Civil Cases: Retain for 7 years after final case settlement, and then securely destroy; provided, however, records relating to the representation of a minor shall be retained until at least six years after the minor reaches the age of majority.

Criminal and Juvenile Cases: Retain for 10 years after the latest date of the completion of the representation, the conclusion of all direct appeals, or the running of an incarcerated defendant’s maximum period of incarceration, but in no event longer than the life of the client, then securely destroy.

NOTE: Where appropriate in the judgment of the attorney responsible for the case file or the Director of Clinical Programs, a case file in a civil, criminal or juvenile case may be retained for a longer period of time than prescribed above. Case files may be fully scanned and preserved in electronic format, and the paper file may then be destroyed, provided the retention period is applied to the electronic version.

Authority: M.R.P.C. 1.15A, 1.6(c); Mass. Gen. Laws c. 93H; HIPAA Privacy Rule, 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164; 17 USC § 507; 35 USC § 286.