A practical SharePoint governance template for law firms that want cleaner matter workspaces, safer document access, better Microsoft 365 collaboration, and fewer permission surprises.
Purpose of this template
SharePoint can replace disorganized shared drives and improve collaboration, but law firms need structure before they move sensitive documents into Microsoft 365. Without governance, Teams, SharePoint sites, OneDrive folders, external links, guest users, and matter files can multiply quickly. The result is usually confusion about ownership, access, retention, and recovery.
Use this template to define how your firm creates, names, secures, reviews, and archives SharePoint workspaces. For implementation help, start with AKAVEIL's free Law Firm IT & Cybersecurity Assessment: https://akaveil.com/law-firm-it-assessment/.
Governance summary
| Governance decision | Recommended owner | Required documentation | | --- | --- | --- | | Site creation standards | Firm administrator and IT provider | Site naming, template, owner, purpose, and lifecycle | | Matter workspace access | Responsible attorney or practice lead | Approved users, guest users, groups, and permission level | | External sharing | Firm leadership and IT provider | Approved use cases, expiration rules, and monitoring cadence | | Closed matter process | Firm administrator and records owner | Archive location, retention approach, and access policy | | Permission review | Firm administrator and IT provider | Quarterly review log and exception list | | Recovery process | IT provider | Backup scope, restore owners, and recovery expectations |
1. Define the SharePoint information architecture
Begin by deciding which workspaces belong in SharePoint. Many firms need separate structures for active matters, closed matters, templates, administrative files, HR, finance, marketing, intake, and leadership materials. Each workspace should have a clear owner and a business purpose.
Avoid creating a new Team or SharePoint site for every small conversation. A better approach is to define templates for common use cases, such as practice-area sites, matter sites, department sites, and secure external collaboration workspaces.
2. Establish naming conventions
A consistent naming convention makes search, permissions, lifecycle management, and support easier. The convention should be short enough for daily use but descriptive enough for administrators to understand the workspace at a glance.
| Workspace type | Example naming convention | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Active matter | MAT-ClientName-MatterName-Year | Use only information the firm is comfortable showing in workspace names. | | Practice area | PA-EstatePlanning | Useful for templates, shared forms, and team knowledge. | | Department | DEPT-Finance or DEPT-HR | Requires stricter permissions and ownership. | | External collaboration | EXT-ClientName-Purpose-Year | Use expiration and guest review policies. | | Closed matters | ARCH-Year-PracticeArea | Limit access and define retention expectations. |
3. Define permission groups
Permissions should be group-based whenever possible. Avoid assigning individual permissions across many folders unless there is a documented exception. For each site, define owners, members, visitors, external guests, and any restricted folders.
A law firm should also document who approves access. In many cases, the responsible attorney or practice lead approves matter access, while the administrator or managing partner approves department and finance access. The IT provider should implement permissions but should not become the only decision maker for business access.
4. Control external sharing
External sharing is useful for clients, co-counsel, accountants, consultants, vendors, and expert witnesses, but it needs guardrails. Decide whether anonymous links are allowed, whether links expire, who can share externally, and how guest access is reviewed.
At minimum, your firm should know which external users currently have access to sensitive files. Review guest users and active sharing links on a recurring schedule, especially after matters close or vendor engagements end.
5. Standardize matter workspaces
A matter workspace should make the daily work of attorneys and staff easier. The structure should support documents, correspondence, pleadings, discovery, research, financial records, and internal notes without forcing users to improvise their own file systems each time.
| Matter workspace section | Purpose | Access notes | | --- | --- | --- | | 01 Intake | Initial client and conflict information | Restrict if intake contains sensitive data. | | 02 Correspondence | Client, opposing counsel, and internal communications | Align with email filing process. | | 03 Documents | Working drafts and signed documents | Use clear versioning expectations. | | 04 Research | Legal research and reference material | Usually internal only. | | 05 Financial | Invoices, retainers, trust-related documents, or billing notes | Restrict to approved roles. | | 06 Closing | Closing documents and archive checklist | Used before matter is closed. |
6. Decide retention and archiving rules
Do not apply deletion rules until the firm has reviewed legal, operational, client, and insurance considerations. A SharePoint governance plan should define what happens when a matter closes, where closed matters are archived, who can access them, and how long records are retained.
The firm should also decide how exceptions are handled. Some matters may require longer retention, tighter access, or a litigation hold. Those exceptions should be documented rather than handled through informal memory.
7. Create a quarterly review process
Every quarter, review site owners, guest users, sharing links, inactive sites, high-risk permissions, admin roles, and backup/recovery status. The review should produce a short summary for leadership with decisions, not just a technical export.
| Review item | Question to answer | Action if risk is found | | --- | --- | --- | | Site owners | Does every site have an active business owner? | Assign or retire the site. | | Guest users | Do external users still need access? | Remove stale guests and expire links. | | Sensitive folders | Are finance, HR, and restricted matter folders limited? | Replace broad access with approved groups. | | Inactive sites | Are old workspaces still being used? | Archive or delete according to policy. | | Backup and recovery | Can the firm restore SharePoint data if needed? | Test restore and document results. |
8. Implementation roadmap
| Phase | Work to complete | Outcome | | --- | --- | --- | | Phase 1 | Inventory current shared drives, Teams, SharePoint sites, OneDrive habits, and external sharing. | The firm understands where documents currently live. | | Phase 2 | Define naming, templates, owners, access groups, external sharing rules, and archive standards. | Governance decisions are documented before migration. | | Phase 3 | Pilot one practice area or matter workflow. | Attorneys and staff can validate the structure before full rollout. | | Phase 4 | Migrate priority documents, train users, and schedule quarterly reviews. | SharePoint becomes a managed legal document workflow instead of another file dump. |
Recommended next step
If your firm is considering SharePoint or struggling with uncontrolled Teams, OneDrive, or shared-drive sprawl, request AKAVEIL's free assessment. AKAVEIL will review your current document workflow, Microsoft 365 security posture, access controls, backup expectations, and first steps toward a governed migration.
Request the Free Law Firm IT & Cybersecurity Assessment
Related pages: SharePoint Document Management for Law Firms, Microsoft 365 Security Assessment, and Managed IT Services for Law Firms.