What's Hidden in Your Legal PDFs
(And Why Opposing Counsel Loves It)
You drafted the motion. You ran spellcheck. You converted it to PDF. You filed it. What you didn't do — what almost no attorney does — is check what else you just handed to opposing counsel.
- Author's full name (from Windows/Mac account)
- Company name and department
- Creation date, last modified date, last printed date
- Software used to create the document
- Revision count and total editing time
- Previous authors who edited the document
- Tracked changes and deleted text (in Word documents converted to PDF)
- GPS coordinates in photos embedded in the document
- Device name and operating system
The Real-World Discovery Problem
In 2019, a law firm inadvertently produced a document in discovery that contained tracked changes showing internal strategy discussions that had been "deleted" before filing. The opposing party was able to read the firm's entire litigation strategy — simply by checking the metadata.
This isn't a hypothetical. It happens. Courts have sanctioned attorneys for inadvertent disclosure of privileged information through document metadata. The ABA has issued formal opinions (ABA Formal Opinion 06-442) specifically addressing attorney obligations around metadata in electronic documents.
What the ABA Says About Metadata
ABA Formal Opinion 06-442 states that attorneys have an obligation under Model Rule 1.6 (confidentiality) to take reasonable measures to avoid inadvertent disclosure of metadata. The opinion notes that sending a document with metadata is not automatically a waiver of privilege — but the safest practice is to strip it before sending.
Most state bars have adopted similar guidance. Florida, New York, California, Texas, and virtually every other state bar association have issued opinions confirming that attorneys have an ethical duty to review documents for embedded metadata before production or filing.
The 5 Types of Documents Most at Risk
How to Check Your Documents Right Now
In Adobe Acrobat: File → Properties → Description tab. You'll see the author, creation date, and software. But that's only the surface. Deep metadata — tracked changes, GPS, revision history — requires proper extraction tools.
In Microsoft Word: File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document. This will show you exactly what metadata is embedded before you convert or share.
Drag in any legal document. We strip all metadata — deep and surface level — and return a clean file. Zero retention. Files never stored on our servers.
Try ShieldDrop Free →The Bottom Line
Metadata hygiene isn't optional anymore. It's a professional obligation. The good news is that stripping metadata takes about 30 seconds with the right tool — and it's a habit that could protect your clients, your privilege, and your license.
Build it into your pre-filing checklist. Make it as automatic as running spellcheck. Your clients deserve an attorney who protects their information at every step — including the ones nobody else is thinking about.