"Where is my passport?"
The client needs their passport back to travel for a family emergency. The caseworker is sure it came in. They think it was sent out with the application. Or was it returned already? The drawer has a folder of originals from several clients. The courier receipt is somewhere. Nobody can answer the question with certainty, and the client is frightened.
Every firm that handles originals has had a version of this moment. It is rare, but when it happens it is serious, and the record that would have prevented it was one line in a book that nobody kept up.
Originals move more than people realise
An original comes in at a meeting, goes into a drawer, gets copied, maybe goes out by courier, maybe comes back separately, maybe gets returned to the client in person or by post. At every step it is handled by someone who is thinking about the case, not about the logistics.
A paper log or a column in a spreadsheet only works if every person updates it at every step. In a busy office, that does not happen reliably. And the log is not linked to the matter, so a caseworker looking at the file sees nothing about which originals the firm holds.
Busy periods make it worse. When several clients drop off originals in the same week, envelopes pile up, and the one careful person who normally updates the log is on leave or in consultations.
What an unreliable record risks
| Gap | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Original not logged in | No proof the firm ever received it |
| Location not recorded | Searching drawers when a client asks |
| Sent out without tracking | No evidence of where it went |
| Return not signed for | Disputes about whether it was given back |
| Not linked to the matter | Caseworkers unaware what they hold |
The cost is mostly trust. A client who cannot get a straight answer about their passport is unlikely to recommend the firm, whatever the outcome of their case.
Staff feel the pressure as well. Nobody wants to be the person who cannot find a client's passport, and the worry makes people reluctant to take in originals at all, even when the file needs them.
The originals register we build
- Every original received is logged on the matter at the desk, with a photo, the document type, whose it is and who received it. A printed label with a reference goes on its envelope.
- Storage locations are recorded, such as safe, cabinet or drawer, and moving an original means scanning its label, so the location is always current.
- When an original is sent out, the courier and tracking number are recorded, and tracking updates are pulled in where the courier offers an API.
- When originals come back or are returned to the client, the handover is recorded with a signature on a tablet or a signed receipt upload.
- The matter screen shows which originals the firm currently holds, and a firm-wide list shows every original held, sent out or awaiting return.
- Originals held beyond a period your firm sets are flagged for a caseworker to review and return.
The register records movements. Your firm decides when to ask for originals and how long to keep them.
An answer when the client asks
When a client asks where their passport is, anyone can look it up. Every original has a location, a history and, when it goes back, a signature. Originals held too long are noticed and returned. Caseworkers see what the firm holds on each file without checking the drawer.
Is this how originals are managed?
- Originals are logged in a paper book or not at all
- You have searched drawers for a client's document
- Couriered originals are not tracked on the matter
- Returns to clients are not signed for
- Some originals have been held far longer than needed