Paperless Office

There's a couple of really great articles out there about improving your law office with a move to digital files.

Jim Calloway, Director of the Oklahoma Bar Association Management Assistance Program, has a great article this month discussing the importance of using digital files.

My firm went digital from day one, and with the advice of several people at Solosez, I ditched the actual paper copies to the files as well.

The greatest benefits have been increased productivity and efficiency. As Jim suggests, I no longer rummage through the paper file looking for that letter or medical report. Everything is on my digital system, and available to all of my staff.

I use a simple naming and sorting system that I think is easy to remember and use. My biggest rule is if it isn't scanned, it doesn't exist or it never happened.

I purchased a fairly inexpensive Dell multifunction printer/scanner, which runs multiple functions, saving space and money. There's a lot of hype about the ScanSnap scanners, but I haven't tried them.

One of the hardest things for me to appreciate was that no matter what you tell yourself, you don't need the file. My biggest hangup was that I would "need" the file for court. That simply isn't true, or is limited to a few instances. However, in the 6 months since my move, I have never needed the entire file. For hearings, I print out the document(s) I need to refer to, and head out. Sure, arguably I'm "wasting" more paper, but I think I have comfort knowing that the ultimate waste is for my own benefit.

I would encourage you to get past the "need" for the physical copy, and move to the digital age.