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Technology Overload
Have you got a bad case of technology overload? You know what I mean. You're constantly bombarded by information about hardware and software for document
management, case management, litigation management, knowledge management, trial presentations, document assembly, electronic time and billing, voice-activated dictation, groupware,
electronic calendaring, tickler systems, online fax servers, contact management, online research, the latest PDA, and so on and so forth.
It's easy to wonder sometimes whether you are practicing law or running an information technology company. Don't get me wrong, it would be pretty tough to practice law today without word
processors, online research tools, and voicemail. (As a former user of carbon paper, I speak from experience.) But technology can be overwhelming sometimes. Do you have the capital,
knowledge, time, or energy to implement into your practice every technology that looks like a good idea? Probably not.
The Single Most Profitable Technology
One danger of technology overload is that it may prevent you from doing anything at all. That's bad. So the question becomes: "Where
should I start?" In a way, answering that question is easy. Start with technology that boosts productivity the most, saves the most money, and is easy to use. If you were
prioritizing the payment of your debts, you would first tackle the debt with the highest interest rate, right?
- the debt that costs you the most. The same is true with headaches in your practice. Tackle the headache that costs you the most. But which one is that you ask? Ready for a surprise? It's paper. Yes, paper! Listen to what one practicing attorney says:
I can truthfully say that each and every technology [we use] has improved the way we practice law. . . . [H]owever . . . I am convinced that the single most profitable technology we have implemented is the use of scanning/imaging technology, coupled with document management software, to create a paperless office environment.
Other than junk mail, we scan . . . everything that comes in for every file. It is easy to do and has made a tremendous boost in our productivity. What I cannot
understand is why so many people look at me incredulously when I tell them this and then say, "Well I just can't see taking the time to scan everything." They then dismiss the
idea as nonsense and continue to practice that same way they have for the last umpteen years. . . .
I know that those of us who have adopted this method would not be willing to go back."1
The "Large Firm" Myth
Document imaging is not just for the big firms in town. In fact, small and medium-sized firms may benefit the most from using less paper. Why? Because the need to leverage limited time, energy, and resources is so much greater in a small firm where there is no army of file clerks, mail carriers, Xeroxers, runners, and paralegals to do leg work on a case. A good 20-page-per-minute scanner and a single-seat document management system cost less than two thousand bucks - and you don't have to pay social security tax on them either!
Less Paper Boosts Productivity
Now I'll be the first to admit that a completely paperless office is about as practical as a completely paperless bathroom. Both make me
nervous! But don't give up on the concept of less paper. It's powerful. An office that uses less paper can always opt for creating paper documents, but the reverse is not true. A law firm
using document imaging technology will realize many advantages over a firm that is completely paper based. Here are some of those advantages:
- File all your documents on computer instead of in a filing cabinet.
- Create one central computer repository for paper and electronic documents, whether received from outside the firm or generated in house.
- Create standard infrastructures for filing, indexing, and locating your documents.
- Find and view any document in your filing system in seconds - from your desk.
- Let associates, clients, witnesses, or anyone else you choose view documents in your files simultaneously - via computer
- whether they're in the next office or on a business trip in Singapore.
- Have every client file in the office up to date within an hour of mail delivery.
- Take any or all of your client files home, on the road, or to court with you. (A single CD holds a four-drawer filing cabinet full of documents.)
- Keep a copy of your entire filing system in a safety deposit box.
- Never again have a "missing" document or file sitting somewhere lost, where it doesn't belong.
- Pull up a client's file immediately, while he's on the telephone with you.
- Instantly access years of work product to draft new documents.
- Never photocopy documents as attachments to motions or affidavits again.
- Never tear apart or reconstruct a paper file to pull supporting documents, prepare for depositions, or assemble witness kits.
- Print paper documents from the file for temporary use and then throw them away when the task is done.
- Never again be accused of leaving a file in a mess following a deposition when just the day before it had finally been organized and brought up to date.
- Improve the speed, accuracy, timeliness, and recyclability of your work.
- Reduce or eliminate photocopying.
- Reduce the frustration and stress deadlines can cause.
Less Paper Saves Money
Just think. It costs about the same to scan a document as it does to photocopy it. But the similarity ends there. Without itemizing the differences -
and boring you to tears - I counted 32 more things you can do with a digital image than you can do with a paper document. Most of these activities would require altering an original paper
document or photocopying it again. (Did you know that the average paper document gets copied 19 times?) Document images can be filed in multiple sort orders, printed, emailed, indexed,
linked to other documents, posted on the web, converted to text, password protected, redacted, highlighted, bates numbered, audited (to see who has accessed them), exported to litigation
support or trial presentation systems, and more.
This is why document imaging is so powerful. An image costs the same as a photocopy but increases exponentially what you can do with it thereafter - and without generating any more paper!
To achieve the same result with a paper document, it must often be copied again and again. Here are some of the ways less paper can save money:
- Reduce costs for equipment such as photocopy and fax machines, telephone lines, desk drawers, credenzas, filing cabinets, shelving, carts, and dollies.
- Reduce costs for copy paper, file folders, accordion files, and banker's boxes.
- Reduce costs for postage, FedEx and UPS, faxing, and runners.
- Reduce attorney and staff labor costs for activities such as researching, drafting, filing, searching, mailing, faxing, and Xeroxing.
- Reduce costs for office space by eliminating the need for large offices, furniture for filing paper, file rooms, and dead file warehouse space.
Intangible Benefits
In addition to boosting productivity and saving money, there are many intangible benefits to generating less paper. The most important of these is happy
clients. Scanning and imaging technology makes communicating with your clients fast and painless. Many business clients already do much of their work in a digital world, and having an
attorney who is digital friendly makes working with him that much easier. Happy clients generate more work, give more referrals, pay their bills, and do not complain to the bar
association. A firm that employs strategies for generating less paper may also compete better to attract new clients because it has a modern, efficient, quality-driven, and cost-conscious
image.
Lastly, many petty office frustrations can be completely eliminated by using less paper. Little irritations like missing documents, war rooms, conference rooms, and offices that look like
the city dump, and a secretary who always seems to be away from her desk searching for a file in the basement simply disappear. Practicing law is stressful enough without spilling soft
drinks on important documents, having the copy machine break down in the middle of a document production, or having the boss leave an important client file on an airplane.
Less Paper is Easy to Use
Document imaging is not rocket science. It was once the exclusive technology of Fortune 500 companies, but not any more. Plummeting costs, huge hard
drives, and advances in hardware, software, and compression technology have combined to make the obvious benefits of document imaging affordable and accessible to any size business. And
it's easy. There are six steps required to image your documents: Capture, index, file, retrieve, share, and secure.
1. Capture. You first run a paper document you receive in the mail, for example, through a document scanner and turn it into an image - or a picture - that you can view on your computer.
If you have a Microsoft Word document, for example, you can print it out as an image instead of to paper. (You can also leave it in its native Word format, if you want to).
2. Index. Next, you will probably want to write a few key words about each document so that you can find it later. Key words might include client, matter, document type, date, description,
author, and recipient. You over-achievers and litigators may also want to OCR a document image (convert it to text) so you can do full-text searches on it later (but you don't have to).
3. File. You next file the image on your computer instead of in a filing cabinet.
4. Retrieve. When it comes time to find the document, you simply type a few key words, pick your document from the list of matches, and view it on your monitor. It couldn't be easier!
5. Share. If necessary, you can give simultaneous access to these documents to partners, associates, staff, clients, co-counsel, opposing counsel, witnesses, expert witnesses, the court,
and anyone else you want to and still leave the original completely in tact and safe in a single physical location. Parties accessing your documents can be in the same office, the same
building, the same city, or anywhere else in the world.
6. Secure. Only you decide who may have access to what documents. Security can be controlled at the computer network level, at the document management system level, or at the document
level (because passwords can even be placed on individual documents).
What About Existing Paper Documents?
A man once extolled the benefits of large shade trees but complained that they take 50 years to grow. "Well," observed his friend,
"then you'd better plant one today!" Deciding to use less paper is not difficult, but getting there is not an overnight process either. It may require patience. The easy part of
using less paper is installing the system and scanning incoming documents. The $64,000 question is what to do about your existing paper files - called your backfile.
There are three options for handling your backfile. First, you can ignore it all together. This means that you'll have what's called a "day-forward" document imaging system. The
second option is to scan only the documents from the backfile that you retrieve and use. This is what's called an "on-demand" system. Third, you can scan your entire backfile
into your document imaging system. This is what's known as a back-file conversion. If you're patient, you can start inexpensively and ignore your backfile. If you're anxious, you can pony
up to have everything scanned and put online right away. Or . . . you can compromise.
Three Options for Doing the Work
Like laying tile in your kitchen, there are three ways to do the actual document imaging work. First, you can do it all yourself. Second, you can
hire it done (outsource it). Or third, you can do part of the work, and outsource the rest. Which option you choose depends on several factors: What are you going to do with your
backfile? Do you have clerical and technical people dedicated to the job? Is your computer system up to snuff or does it need an upgrade? Do you want to manage your own technology or just
practice law? Here's a brief description of how each option might work.
1. Do the work yourself. Using this option, you scan the documents, you index them, and you store them on your computer or network. To retrieve and use your documents, you simply search
for them by clicking on folders or by running simple key-word searches. Advantages of this option may include complete control over your documents from beginning to end. Disadvantages may
include the need to purchase a scanner, computer hardware, software, and network resources, and the need make sure that your technical and clerical people know how to run and use the
system.
2. Outsource the work. Using this option, a service provider could pick up your filing every day, scan the documents, index them according to your directions, store them on their computer
or network, and return the original documents to you. The entire document imaging process, except for using the system to find and retrieve documents from your files, would be outsourced.
Advantages of this option may include having someone else scan, index, store, retrieve, secure, and backup your documents. You would need no hardware, software, or IT support for your
document imaging system. Disadvantages may include losing some control over how, when, and where your documents are scanned and indexed.
3. Do some of the work yourself and outsource the rest. There are many variations possible with this option. Any one piece of the process - such as converting your backfile - could be
outsourced, and the rest could be done in-house. In one scenario, you could scan and index your documents yourself and then download them to a service provider for storage on its large
server. As in option two above, finding and retrieving documents would be done in-house using an internet connection. Advantages of this option include outsourcing the storage, security,
and backup of your documents while maintaining the flexibility to scan, index, find, and retrieve your documents in-house where, when, and how you want to. Disadvantages may include the
temporary loss of physical control of your documents.
Application Service Providers
Just a word about ASPs. Letting go of the physical control of your documents may worry you. Some concerns have merit and need to be addressed, but
other concerns are unfounded. Realistically, a good service provider may actually improve the management, backup, accessibility, and security of your documents because that's what they do
for a living. After all, isn't that why your clients come to you? Because you're a specialist and a professional? A reputable ASP, a good service agreement, and a Plan B in case things
don't work out should alleviate any fears you may have about entrusting your documents and files to an ASP.
Outsourcing technology is the future of law firm computing. A couple of law firms back east - one with only eight attorneys - recently outsourced their entire computer network system. They
own no servers, no software, and some of them even employ no IT people. All they have in-house are workstations with access to the internet using a web browser. Users log on to the web
using private, leased telephone lines and access the Microsoft Office, email, legal applications, and document imaging services they subscribe to and pay for. Advantages to this
arrangement include a fixed monthly IT budget, minimal need for technical support staff, and no capital outlays for hardware, software, or system upgrades, other than low-end
workstations. Now that's neat! (albeit beyond the scope of this article).
Try It, You'll Like It!
In short, less paper is probably the single most profitable technology a law firm can employ. Using a scanner and a document management system will make
your work easier, boost your productivity, save you money, eliminate frustrations, make your clients happy, improve your image, and give you a competitive edge. After you begin imaging
your documents, you, too, will probably never, ever want to go back.
Footnotes
1. The Biggest Bang for the Buck, LawTechnology News, December, 2000, Bruce A. Olson, emphasis added. (Mr. Olson is the principal of Olson Law Group, LLC and ONLAW Trial
Technologies, LLC in Minneapolis.)
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