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I began practicing law in 1976. At that time, I was fortunate to work in an office that prided itself on having state of the art technology. Every secretary had an IBM Selectric
Typewriter. We soon updated these typewriters to the amazing "Correcting Selectric," which could type backwards and lift the letters off the page to correct mistakes. It was a
miracle, and certainly a vast improvement over carbon paper, onion skin, and white-out.
In general, however, our secretaries made very few typing errors because lawyers prepared
legal documents in longhand, corrected their own mistakes in longhand through several revisions, and then gave the finished product to their secretary for typing. Cutting and pasting
(literally) was a common technique for taking advantage of one's prior work product. Virtually all secretaries knew shorthand, which was an extremely useful and valued skill. Dictating
machines were primitive, bulky devices that usually occupied several square inches of the lawyer's desk or credenza. Copy machines were slow and messy. Many of the early models functioned
only with the aid of toxic chemical compounds that created a silky, shiny, bluish, photo-like product, and that, over time, faded from barely readable to invisible. Fax machines, personal
computers, electronic research and the internet had either not been invented yet, or were not commercially available to the modern practitioner.
Almost every office had a law
library. Law libraries, both public and private, were places where lawyers and their law clerks often could be found toiling at desks piled high with mountains of reporters, treatises and
case digests - all essential tools for finding the law. The principal method of communication for the lawyer was either a face-to-face meeting or the telephone. Voicemail had not yet been
invented. Lawyers, or their receptionists, actually answered their phones during business hours. Cell phones also did not yet exist, at least in the private sector. Finally, the
successful lawyer usually had a first name, working relationship with the staff in the clerk's office of the state and federal courts. If you wanted to see what had been filed in a case,
you had to go to the clerk's office, ask to have the case file pulled from central records, and then physically review it in the clerk's office.
Flash forward to 2004. In the
modern law office of today, it is difficult to even find an impact typewriter. After all, who needs one? Envelopes, forms, checks and nearly every other type of document can be generated,
modified, completed and printed with a personal computer, off-the-shelf software and a low cost printer. In fact, why even bother printing the document? Simply attach it to an email and
whisk it off into cyberspace. Software applications are readily available in mind-boggling varieties. Communication systems are integrated with networks, voicemail is accessible from
remote locations, the internet is omnipresent, email has replaced the telephone as the communication tool of choice among professionals, and almost everyone has a cell phone and PDA with
them at all times. Faxes can now be "digitized," and sent directly to the attorney's personal computer where they can be reviewed, printed, saved and forwarded with the click of
a mouse. Photocopies are close to being passŽ, since huge volumes of information can now be scanned, saved as PDF files and stored on CDs. Voice recognition computer systems now
allow the lawyer to speak to the computer and let the computer convert the words to text, thus skipping the entire step of dictation and transcription. Electronic legal research, either
via the internet or from established service providers such as Lexis and Westlaw, has replaced the law library. Law books now function more as decorations than as tools. Individual case
research also can be conducted now via the internet with search engines such as PACER.
About the only aspect of the law office that has not changed much in the last 30 years is the
filing system. Paper files, filing cabinets and off-site storage of dead files are still common. But, this too is about to change.
Recently the United States Bankruptcy Court for
the District of Utah launched the CM/ECF filing system. The United States District Court for the District of Utah is making preparations now for implementation of the CM/ECF system
sometime in the Summer or Fall of this year. Both systems operate in essentially the same way.
Lawyers gain access to the CM/ECF system through the internet. Any lawyer with a
standard personal computer, an internet connection, an internet service provider, a browser running current versions of Netscape or Explorer, a standard word processing application, and
Adobe Acrobat Reader / Writer can become fully functional on this electronic filing system. Once the lawyer obtains a minimal amount of training, the system can be accessed via the
internet with a login name and password, and this login has the same effect as the lawyer's signature on the electronic document.
Cases, dockets and pleadings can be easily
searched and viewed from your computer. Pleadings can be quickly printed and saved, since they all have direct links that open up the document with a click of a mouse. More important, new
pleadings can be filed by the lawyer directly from the lawyer's computer to the clerk's office, without any paper versions or copies ever being generated, and with instant verification of
the filing via email notification. In Bankruptcy CM/ECF, filing fees are paid with the use of a credit card.
When I first started using the CM/ECF system last year, I was a bit
skeptical about whether it actually would replace paper filings. Now, after using the system for several months, I am convinced that the real challenge is not using CM/ECF but converting
my internal paper filing systems into a paperless office environment. In truth, electronic filing is easy, even for a computer-illiterate person like myself. But, once you start to
function without paper, you quickly realize that your life is still full of paper. Paper is everywhere in your law practice, from the dead files taking up warehouses of expensive space to
your regular mail that gets delivered every day. Is it possible to do away with all these file folders, file cabinets, and warehouses of paper? Wouldn't it be wonderful to recycle all of
that cellulose material into park benches and particleboard? Maybe we could even save a few forests in the process.
Is such a conversion really possible and practical for lawyers?
Can we replace all of our comfortable paper with electronic files, optical scanners, CD writer/readers, faster, more reliable internet connections, speedier computers and larger, crisper
flat panel monitors? Imagine the freedom if we could. A fully functioning law office could consist of a laptop computer, and high speed, wireless internet connection, and, perhaps, a cell
phone. This vision is not farfetched. In fact, it is here today for some, and right around the corner for the rest of us.
Innovations are hard - at least at first. Then, once the
improvement becomes commonplace, we wonder how we ever got along without it; much like the automatic garage door opener or the microwave oven. For lawyers, the challenges of a paperless
office, among others, will be: (a) Where do I store these electronic files - on my computer, on a central server, off-site with access via the internet? (b) Who should have access to
these files? Will the material be safe from corruption and manipulation? (c) How can I be certain that everything I need will be located in the same electronic file or directory? (d) Do I
need to convert all of my existing paper files to electronic files, or just start fresh and, eventually, eliminate paper filing by attrition? (e) Who will be responsible for "file
maintenance?" (f) What about the mail? Do I need to scan it and convert it to an electronic format? (g) What if my computer crashes? Do I need to also keep a paper backup? Would a
regular system of archiving and offsite storage in electronic format be sufficient? (h) What if software applications change? Will I still be able to read my old electronic files with the
current software?
I don't claim to have answers to these questions. This is an evolutionary process. I can say, however, that change is coming and, whether we like it or not, all
lawyers will need to adapt to these changes. In Utah, this transition should be easier for us because we have a strong tradition of electronic innovation. After all, Novell invented
computer networking and WordPerfect invented word processing in our back yard. So, as Utah lawyers, it is only fitting that we all continue this tradition by evolving from paper pushers
to key clickers.
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