Thanks, Lee for sharing your experiences with contract negotiation.  This
summer, I will be involved with contract negotiation for records storage,
for the first time.  Our current contract was in place when I joined the
team in 1999.

This has brought a thought to mind.  Perhaps all the very knowledge Records
Managers out here could provide me with some pointers in negotiating a
contract with a records storage vendor.  Just brief ideas, (I don't need a
novel, and neither does the list serve!) points, thoughts, etc.

If you send your pointers on negotiations to me, I will compile a listing
and provide it to the List Serve.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks,

Lisa Mahoney
International Records Analyst
Lucent Technologies
600 Mountain Ave Rm 6D423C
Murray Hill NJ 07974-0636
V: 908 582-7148
F: 908 582-2940
E: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>

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From: Nemchek, Lee R. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
<snip>
        John's full email is very relevant to us in our dealings with
offsite storage vendors.  Having just gone through the process of
negotiating a new contract, I can't stress enough the importance of
reviewing and redrafting, as necessary, every single word in the "Standard
Terms and Conditions" contract that a vendor might present to you to sign.
Literally *everything* in a storage contract is negotiable and open to
revision.  If a vendor tells you that the warehouseman's lien" language in
their contract is standard in the industry, don't believe it.  That language
can be amended or stricken altogether from your contract, if you negotiate
to do so.  If you fail to make these kinds of changes, the law firm's
records might, under very adverse circumstances, be subject to destruction
or sale to third parties, without the firm's knowledge or consent.  It's
taken me almost six months to negotiate our new offsite storage contract.
Although the process has been an ordeal, an!
d one that I don't want to have to repeat for many years to come, the time
spent by me and our firm's lawyers who assisted in the negotiation will have
been well spent, if it serves the purpose of protecting the firm's interests
against all negative eventualities with respect to our future relationship
with our vendor.

        Regarding John's opinion about the general futility of posting legal
notices, I don't disagree, but I'll do it anyway as part of our due
diligence efforts to provide notice to clients that we can't find, prior to
destroying their records.

Lee R. Nemchek MLS, CRM
Information Resources Manager
Morrison & Foerster LLP
[log in to unmask]
(213) 892-5359 phone
(213) 892-5454 fax

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