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Legal Document Storage

For legal teams, a document repository needs to do more than store files, it needs to prove what happened, when, and who was responsible. This guide covers how to set Locker up for legal document management: matter-based organization, legal holds, obligation tracking, and an immutable chain of custody.

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Screenshot: locker-legal-workspace, a legal team's Locker workspace with matter-based tags, executed agreement labels, and a Legal Hold badge visible on documents

Who This Is For​

In-house legal teams, legal operations managers, and outside counsel with organization access. You'll need upload access to manage documents; organization admin access is required to place legal holds and configure retention policies.

See Roles to confirm you have the right access level.

Step 1: Organize by Matter​

Upload your files to Locker → Documents. For large matter file migrations, see Bulk Import. Structure your tags and metadata around how your team actually retrieves documents, by matter, counterparty, or document type, rather than by folder hierarchy.

For each document, add:

  • Matter number, your internal case or matter identifier
  • Counterparty, the other party to the agreement or dispute
  • Document date, the execution or filing date
  • Responsible attorney, the attorney of record for this matter
  • Tags, e.g., nda, executed, pending-review, discovery

See Organizing Documents and Metadata for setup. Once documents are tagged, use Search & Filters to retrieve them instantly by matter number, counterparty, or document type, or use Saved Searches to create a one-click view per active matter.

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Screenshot: legal-document-metadata, a document detail panel with matter number, counterparty, document date, and attorney fields filled in

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Screenshot: legal-search-by-matter, the Search page filtered by matter number tag showing all documents associated with a specific matter

When litigation or a regulatory investigation begins, place a Legal Hold on the relevant documents immediately. A held document cannot be archived or deleted, by any user or by any automated retention policy, until you explicitly remove the hold.

See Legal Hold for how to place holds, manage the holds log, and handle GDPR erasure requests that conflict with an active hold.

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Screenshot: legal-hold-active, a document in the list showing the Legal Hold status badge

Step 3: Track Obligations and Key Dates​

Attach Obligations to executed contracts to capture renewal windows, notice periods, and filing deadlines. The Obligations dashboard at Locker → Obligations gives your team a single view of every upcoming deadline across the repository.

See Obligations to create and track deadlines.

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Screenshot: obligations-legal, the Obligations dashboard filtered to a specific matter showing upcoming and overdue deadlines

Step 4: Automate Retention by Document Type​

Set retention policies aligned to your legal requirements, seven years for executed contracts, three years for correspondence, indefinite for certain regulatory filings. Locker handles archival and deletion automatically, so your team stays compliant without managing it manually.

See Retention Policies for setup and worked examples including single-document overrides.

Step 5: Produce the Audit Trail​

Every action on every document, upload, download, permission change, legal hold placed or removed, is recorded automatically with the user identity and a precise timestamp. This log is your primary evidence of proper chain of custody.

To produce it for a regulator, auditor, or opposing counsel:

  1. Go to Organization → Audit Logs.
  2. Filter by document, user, or action type.
  3. Click Export.
tip

Every download is logged. Always download documents directly from Locker when sharing with outside counsel or regulators, this creates a clear, auditable record of exactly what was shared and when.

Coming Soon

Screenshot: legal-audit-log, the Audit Logs page filtered to a specific document showing uploads, downloads, and legal hold events in chronological order

See Compliance for GDPR and CCPA handling and full audit export steps.

Find Answers Across Documents​

For teams on a plan that includes AI Search, you can ask plain-language questions across your entire document library, "what are the indemnification terms in the Acme MSA?" or "which contracts require 90-day notice?", and get answers sourced from the documents themselves. See AI Search.

Next Steps​