Folders / metadata

I've thought about this a fair amount. In my limited view, I think the answer depends on just a few factors: how willing your users are to completing many fields that are not automatically populated; being able to find something now; and being able to find something in the future. Although this may not factor into your process, it's also important that your access permissions are consistent with your storage methods. In order to address a multitude of current needs and potentially future needs, you'll have to anticipate all the search approaches that a future user or legal hold administrator will need, if you plan on dumping all the files into one big data lake. But even if you use folders, you should consider all those things. I've found that the clearest approach, at least for my firm, is to consider folders a type of attribute, or metadata, related to how you currently use them, i.e., author, client, topic, status, whatever. Good luck. Please report back.