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I have had a paperless law office since early 2006, when I bought my first Fujitsu ScanSnap s1500 document scanner and started scanning every page that crossed my desk.
That—and a bit of planning—is really all it takes to transition to a paperless office.
There seems to be a tendency to think of digital files as fundamentally different than paper files. In some ways, they are different. Digital files are better. You can encrypt them, back them up in different places, and do many other nifty things. But from an organizational perspective, paperless office digital files are basically the same as paper files.
For example, I previously gave the client file folder structure I use in my paperless office. Chances are pretty good you use the same or similar labels on your existing physical file folders.
Other than that, all you have to do is scan everything. A good practice is to have a physical inbox. Never take anything out of your inbox without scanning it. Then, you can shred, save, or mark up the hard copy without worrying about it. You should definitely save originals of some documents, if you are not filing them with the court, but I shred 95% of the paper I receive.
Pretty soon, you will adapt to the slight change in paper flow through your office, and never look back. If you want more detail before you get going, I put together my paperless law office strategy in much more detail in a white paper you can get for free when you sign up for the Lawyerist Insider newsletter.
In the end, the major hurdle to creating your paperless law office is not the task of getting your scanner and computer file structure set up, but rather addressing your psychological attachments to paper and your relationship with a paper-centric office. The key, then, is to start with a solid paperless office transition plan that emphasizes changing the way you think about your paper files and your paper workflow.
Sam Glover is a business and consumer rights lawyer and the creator of Lawyerist.
Lawyerist is the #1 law practice blog. We write about marketing, practice management, career development, and more.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad to hear you are enjoying the “Paperless Office”, and you are using the gold standard of scanners, the ScanSnap.
A few thoughts:
First and foremost, before anyone starts shredding, the backup strategy must be rock solid. The electronic document must exist in two different places before it is shredded.
I see you use the automatic sorting naming format—nice! Might I recommend that as much useful information be embedded in the filename as possible (and reasonable) since in many cases, that is all you have if your indexing software fails you or a document file is moved out if its folder structure.
I ended up creating year folders under each subcategory (e.g. “Bills/2008″ and “Bills/2009″). Other arrangements are possible; one being copying your full folder structure for each year (e.g. “2008/Bills”). Mine seemed to work best for me, with many dozens of special folders but only a few with enough content to merit year folders.
One final thought: I assume you are (or will be) using some indexing software to tag and index your files. Be warned—those tools are great, but they typically keep your tags and such in an internal proprietary database that can be lost due to many things, including obsolescence.
Here’s an article I wrote on that particular topic: http://paperjammed.com/2009/03/24/help-my-data-is-being-held-hostage/
Tad
@Ted: Great point on backup. I urge people to have at least two backups at all times, one onsite (because it is faster), and one offsite (in case the office burns down). I have a few more backups than that, in three separate locations. And I test them regularly to make sure they are all working.
If your backup is set up well, you may find yourself using it as an “extended undo” from day to day.
Sam, have you given any thought to using digital signatures? Do you still signatures in hardcopy?
@Daniel: I use a scanned signature for most cover letters and such things. Some documents require a real signature, of course.
But yes, I do. There is little sense printing out a cover letter, signing it, and then scanning it, if I am just going to e-mail or fax it.
Sam,
Do you (or anyone reading this note) have any experience with the Xerox Documate scanning products? I am deciding whether to go with them or Fujitsu. The Xerox 262 is double the cost of the Fujitsu 1500. The 152 is about $100 more.
Thanks,
Chris
Chris, If the Xerox is double the cost of the ScanSnap, what is its appeal to you?
the software package seems robust.
The Xerox is also Twain compliant.
I find that one problem with this is that mentalities do not change very easily. In an office where people are interdependent, some will frown (and it is well within their right) on having associates not having paper files.
That being said, it is fairly clear that this is the direction we’re going in, and there’s no turning back.
I definitely agree that hardware and software is easier to change than habits. We have hard-and-fast rules about how and when things are scanned, and keeping to them is a part of the job.
We have been paperless since 2004. The best thing about going paperless is that it is so much easier to refer to and locate files. Previously when someone would call me and ask for a copy of their documents, it was a real chore to go dig out the file, find the documents they needed, copy them, and send them out. Now we can literally accomplish that same task while we are on the telephone with the client. I usually have sent the documents to them before we get off the telephone. I never felt right about billing clients for the huge amounts of time we spent finding files in the old days; now we don’t have to. It’s all right at our fingertips.
I’ve got the Fujitsu fi-6130 and absolutely love it. If they weren’t so expensive I’d have one on every flat surface in my law firm. But I do need to implement some of your procedures for getting everything scanned in a timely fashion and in the proper file.
Other than the coffee maker, the scansnap is the most used device in my office. Don’t know what I’d do without it