Understanding Retention Policies in August

Understanding Retention Policies in August

What Is a Retention Policy

A retention policy defines how long different types of data are stored in August and when they are deleted or archived. This helps your firm balance operational needs, compliance requirements, and data privacy obligations. Retention policies reduce the risk of unnecessary data exposure, support regulatory compliance, and help control storage and management costs.

How August Uses Retention Policies

Retention policies determine the lifecycle of data stored in your workspace. This includes documents, uploads, AI generated outputs, logs, and metadata. Administrators and authorized users can define retention periods based on data type, sensitivity, client expectations, or regulatory requirements.

When a retention period expires or a manual delete is triggered, August deletes or archives the data according to the policy. This reduces the risk of keeping outdated or unnecessary information.

Types of Data Covered

A retention policy in August typically applies to:

• Uploaded or imported documents such as contracts, pleadings, policies, or memos
• AI generated outputs such as summaries, redlines, extracted fields, and workflow results
• Metadata such as timestamps, user identifiers, access history, and audit logs
• Temporary working copies, previews, or cached files
• Archived Matter data after a Matter is closed or archived

Why Retention Policies Matter for Legal Teams

Retention policies are especially important for legal teams because:

• Legal work involves sensitive and confidential materials. Storing data longer than necessary increases risk
• Many clients or regulators require documents to be kept for specific periods
• Excessively long retention periods lead to data bloat and make search and review less efficient
• During litigation or audits, clear retention rules help maintain defensible document practices and avoid accusations of improper deletion

How to Configure Retention in August

1. Define Categories and Retention Periods

Examples:

• Seven years for closed Matter documents
• Two years for working drafts
• Ninety days for AI generated summaries

2. Apply Policies at the Correct Scope

Retention can be applied firm wide, workspace level, Matter level, or document level.

3. Choose Automated or Manual Deletion

You can configure automatic deletion after expiration or require manual confirmation for sensitive data.

4. Archive or Delete

Some documents may be archived rather than fully deleted to satisfy record keeping or regulatory needs.

5. Maintain Audit Logs

Ensure all deletions or archival actions are logged for compliance and transparency.

Best Practices and Considerations

• A retention policy is not a full compliance program. Human judgment is still needed for litigation matters, regulatory requirements, or special client obligations
• Keeping data longer than necessary increases risk, cost, and liability
• Apply proper classifications such as sensitivity, client, jurisdiction, or Matter status to ensure policies work correctly
• Review retention policies regularly as regulations and firm practices change

Example Retention Schedule (Illustrative)

This schedule is an example only. Each firm must define its own rules.

What Happens on Deletion or Expiration

When data reaches its retention limit:

• It is removed from active storage
• Backup or archived copies are handled according to firm policy
• Deletion logs record who deleted the data and when
• Once deleted, data cannot be recovered unless external copies exist

Retention and Legal Holds

Legal holds override retention rules. When a legal hold is required:

• Mark the Matter or documents as On Hold
• Suspend automatic deletion
• Preserve all metadata and audit logs

This ensures defensible handling during litigation, audits, investigations, or regulatory review.

Summary

A strong retention policy allows your firm to:

• Manage confidentiality and compliance
• Reduce unnecessary data risk
• Keep your workspace organized and efficient
• Meet client and regulatory record keeping obligations
• Control storage usage and reduce long term exposure