FS-DOC-03Operations
Process Runbook / SOP
Document Retention and Archiving
[YourCompany.com] · Legal Department · Prepared by FullSpec · [Today's Date]
This runbook is the day-to-day operating guide for the legal administrator and legal manager responsible for document retention and archiving. It describes exactly what the automation does at each stage, where your team's attention is required, how to handle situations when something goes wrong, and how to keep the process running smoothly over time. FullSpec builds, monitors, and supports the automation end to end. Your team's only standing action in normal operation is reviewing and approving document destruction events when they arrive in Slack.
01Process overview
When a legal document arrives, whether as a completed DocuSign envelope, an upload to a monitored SharePoint folder, or a file dropped into Dropbox Business, the automation takes over immediately. The Document Classification Agent reads the document, assigns the correct type from your taxonomy, calculates the retention end date, and writes all metadata directly to the file in SharePoint. The file is then routed to the right archive folder and logged in the central retention register. A daily monitor checks every register entry against today's date and sends a Slack alert to the legal manager whenever a destruction date has been reached. The legal manager reviews the details and approves or defers destruction. That approval step is the only action your team performs in the normal flow. Every other step, classification, filing, logging, and audit-trail recording, is fully automated and requires no staff involvement.
Process name
Document Retention and Archiving
Trigger
A new document is uploaded to a monitored SharePoint folder or Dropbox Business location, or a completed DocuSign envelope is received
Final output
Document classified, filed, and logged in the retention register, with destruction outcome recorded and audit trail updated
Agents running
Document Classification Agent (on ingestion); Retention Schedule Monitor (daily schedule)
Tools involved
SharePoint, Microsoft 365, DocuSign, Slack, Dropbox Business
Weekly volume
Approximately 15 documents per week (60 per month)
Human checkpoint
Legal Manager: reviews Slack destruction alert and approves or defers. No file is deleted without explicit approval.
Process owner
[Your name] — Legal Operations Manager
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02Step-by-step: what happens and who acts
What you actually need to do: In normal operation, the only action your team takes is reviewing the Slack destruction alert sent by the Retention Schedule Monitor and clicking to approve or defer. Everything else, classification, metadata writing, folder routing, register logging, and audit-trail recording, is handled automatically. You do not need to open SharePoint, update the register, or set any reminders.
Step
What happens
Who acts
Type
1
A document lands in a monitored SharePoint folder, a Dropbox Business location, or arrives as a completed DocuSign envelope. The automation detects the new file and begins processing immediately.
Automation platform
Automated
2
The Document Classification Agent reads the document content and assigns it a document type from the defined taxonomy, such as NDA, employment contract, regulatory filing, or court correspondence. It extracts the matter reference, identifies the responsible party, and matches the document type to the correct retention period from the embedded ruleset.
Document Classification Agent
Automated
3
The automation writes the assigned document type, retention end date, matter number, and responsible party as metadata fields directly on the file in SharePoint. No staff member types anything.
SharePoint via automation
Automated
4
The file is moved into the correct archive folder in SharePoint or Dropbox Business based on the classification result. The folder path follows the agreed taxonomy structure configured during the build.
SharePoint / Dropbox Business via automation
Automated
5
A new row is added to the central retention register in Microsoft 365, recording the document name, storage location, document type, and the calculated destruction date. The audit log entry is created at this point.
Microsoft 365 via automation
Automated
6
The Retention Schedule Monitor runs every day and checks every active entry in the retention register against today's date. When a document's destruction date has arrived or passed, the monitor prepares a destruction alert.
Retention Schedule Monitor
Automated
7
A Slack message is sent to the responsible legal manager containing the document name, matter reference, a summary of the retention period served, and a structured prompt to approve or defer destruction. No file is moved or deleted at this point.
Slack via automation
Automated
8
The legal manager reads the Slack alert, reviews the document details, and responds to approve or defer destruction. This is the single human decision point in the process. Approval is required before any destructive action is taken. If deferred, the monitor will re-alert after the configured defer period.
Legal Manager
Human
9
Once the legal manager approves, the automation marks the register row as destroyed, records the approval date, the approver's name, and the final status. The audit entry is closed. If destruction is deferred, the register row is updated with the deferred date and the next review date.
Microsoft 365 via automation
Automated
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03Handling exceptions
Situation
What the system does
What you do
Document arrives with missing or unreadable metadata (for example, a scanned image with poor resolution or a file with no matter number in the content)
The Classification Agent flags the document as unclassified and sends a Slack notification to the legal administrator with the file name and location. The document is moved to a quarantine folder and no register entry is created until classification is confirmed.
Open the flagged document, confirm the correct document type and matter reference, and update the metadata manually in SharePoint. Once saved, the automation picks up the corrected file and completes the remaining steps.
A document appears to be a duplicate of one already in the retention register (same file name, same matter reference, same document type)
The automation detects the potential duplicate during the register-logging step and holds the new entry. A Slack alert is sent to the legal administrator identifying both the existing entry and the new file.
Review the two files and confirm whether the new document is a true duplicate or a revised version. If it is a duplicate, confirm deletion via Slack. If it is a revised version, confirm so in Slack and the automation will create a new register entry linked to the matter.
A document type cannot be matched to any category in the current taxonomy (for example, a new document format not yet covered by the ruleset)
The Classification Agent assigns the document a status of 'Unknown Type' and routes it to the quarantine folder. A Slack alert is sent to the legal operations manager with the document details and a note that the taxonomy may need updating.
Review the document and determine the correct type. Contact the FullSpec team at support@gofullspec.com to add the new document type to the classification ruleset. Once the ruleset is updated, the document can be reprocessed.
The legal manager does not respond to a destruction approval alert within the configured review window (default: 5 business days)
The Retention Schedule Monitor sends a follow-up Slack reminder to the legal manager after the review window expires. If a second window passes without a response, the item is escalated by sending an additional alert to the process owner.
Check your Slack notifications for pending destruction approvals. If you are unavailable for an extended period, arrange for a delegated approver to cover the queue and notify the FullSpec team so the escalation contact can be updated temporarily.
DocuSign fails to deliver a completed envelope to the monitored trigger (for example, a DocuSign webhook delivery failure or connectivity issue)
The automation platform logs a delivery failure and retries the webhook event up to three times over 30 minutes. If all retries fail, an error alert is sent to the legal administrator via Slack, and the document is flagged as requiring manual ingestion.
Locate the completed envelope in DocuSign directly, download the signed document, and upload it manually to the monitored SharePoint folder. The automation will then process it from that point forward. Report the failure to the FullSpec team at support@gofullspec.com if it occurs more than once in a week.
SharePoint or Dropbox Business is unavailable when the automation attempts to file or retrieve a document
The automation platform pauses the affected workflow run and retries at 15-minute intervals for up to two hours. If the service is still unavailable after two hours, the run is marked as failed and an error notification is sent to the legal administrator via Slack.
Check Microsoft 365 or Dropbox Business service status pages to confirm whether there is a known outage. Once the service is restored, notify the FullSpec team so any failed runs can be replayed. Do not manually file documents during the outage unless the service is confirmed unavailable for more than four hours, to avoid duplicates when the automation replays.
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04Who to contact and when
Fill in the rows marked with placeholders once your team is confirmed. The FullSpec rows are fixed and do not change. Use this table as your first reference whenever something in the process needs attention.
Role
Name
How to reach them
Process owner (Legal Operations Manager)
[Your name]
[Your email or phone]
Legal Administrator (day-to-day operation)
[Administrator name]
[Administrator email or Slack handle]
Legal Manager (destruction approvals)
[Manager name]
[Manager email or Slack handle]
Compliance Lead (ruleset and regulatory queries)
[Compliance Lead name]
[Compliance Lead email]
FullSpec builder (build changes, ruleset updates, integration issues)
FullSpec team
support@gofullspec.com
FullSpec support (errors, alerts, automation not running)
FullSpec support
support@gofullspec.com
05Ongoing maintenance
Whenever a new document type is added or an existing type is retired
Notify the FullSpec team so the classification ruleset can be updated. Do not modify the SharePoint folder structure or taxonomy labels independently, as this will cause routing mismatches.
Legal Operations Manager, with FullSpec
Whenever the retention schedule changes (for example, a regulatory update changes a hold period)
Provide the updated retention period to the FullSpec team with the affected document types. The ruleset embedded in the Classification Agent must be updated before any new documents of that type are processed.
Compliance Lead, with FullSpec
Monthly spot-check (first week of each month)
Open the retention register in Microsoft 365 and verify that the last 30 days of entries look correct: document types are plausible, retention end dates fall within expected ranges, and no entries are marked as 'Unknown Type' without resolution.
Legal Administrator
Weekly error-log review (every Monday)
Check the Slack error channel for any failed runs, quarantined documents, or undelivered DocuSign events from the prior week. Resolve or escalate any open items. Contact support@gofullspec.com if a recurring error pattern appears.
Legal Administrator
When a team member joins, leaves, or changes role
Notify the FullSpec team so that Slack alert routing and escalation contacts can be updated. Update the contact table in this runbook. Ensure departing approvers have no outstanding destruction approvals pending before their access is removed.
Legal Operations Manager, with FullSpec
Quarterly volume review (every three months)
Check whether the monthly document volume has increased or decreased significantly from the 60 per month baseline. If volumes have grown by more than 30 percent, review with the FullSpec team to confirm the automation platform tier and any throughput limits remain appropriate.
Legal Operations Manager, with FullSpec
The single most common maintenance issue for this process is a stale classification ruleset. When a new document type begins arriving, and the ruleset has not been updated to include it, documents accumulate in the quarantine folder unprocessed. Check the quarantine folder during your monthly spot-check and raise any Unknown Type items with support@gofullspec.com promptly so the ruleset can be extended before a backlog builds.
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