According to this report from Law.com's Legal Tech column, a small Delaware firm that handles hundreds of social security benefit cases found that client hard files were outpacing its storage abilities as well as turning into the firm's major overhead expense. As a result, the firm has gone paperless by using software that scans all incoming documents and then forwards them via email to the appropriate file.
To reduce the demands on the office filing system and gain faster, electronic access to client documents, we made a bold decision: our firm was going to scan incoming mail and faxes, route them using office e-mail and work electronically. The firm turned to eCopy ShareScan document imaging software operating on our network-attached Ricoh multifunction peripheral.
Now, all incoming mail and faxes are scanned and sent directly to electronic client folders using eCopy Quick Connect, software which provides an intuitive, menu-driven approach at the MFP to store documents in a specific file location on our network and, at the same time, capture the associated metadata (information about the document that helps us find it when we search).
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Our staff has welcomed the move to a paperless office because their volume of cases is easier to manage electronically. Now, they no longer need to worry about searching for missing files. And, for the first time, the firm is getting rid of filing cabinets and reclaiming office space.
Also, having the documents in electronic formats means multiple people can access and view the same document simultaneously — as opposed to making additional paper copies.
Perhaps more law schools need to provide more opportunities to expose students to these kind of technologies before they head into practice.
You can read the entire article here.
I am the scholarship dude.
(jbl)