Going “Paperless”

By Gerry Morris

This month’s column is the first of two about going "paperless." In this month’s column I’ll discuss what a paperless office is and why you might want one; the basics of setting one up and some hardware and software ideas. Next month I’ll talk about the features of the key software and how to use them.

The basic concept of a paperless or electronic office is that all documents generated in or received by the law office are converted to an electronic format, stored on a computer system, and can easily be retrieved and displayed on a computer workstation monitor. There, the electronic image of the documents can be read, annotated, printed and otherwise utilized instead of the hard copy version.

When I first began practicing law, we generated documents on an IBM Selectric typewriter. My law library consisted of Southwest Reporter, Texas cases, the "Black" statutes and the digest service. It was housed in a room larger than my office. Now we turn out reams of documents with computer word processing and my desktop computer is the portal to every state and federal case in the Westlaw database as well as countless volumes of secondary material. The increase in productivity occasioned by these advancements has been monumental. My 3-year experience with a paperless office has led me to conclude that digital document management can have an equally profound impact on the efficiency with which we can
get things done.

The techniques and products I'm going to talk about are best suited for the smaller practice. The larger the office, the more complex and powerful the components of the paperless office system must be. Here's how it works for me in my sol practice.

I have a central file server computer to which the desktop computers of my staff and I are networked. I run Windows Server 2000 on my file server but in a small office, running Windows XP Professional on the file server may be more than adequate. On the file sever there is a subdirectory for each of my clients, some with subdirectories for different cases or topics within a case.

When we receive a document via the mail, fax etc., it is scanned immediately to an image file. Using document management software (discussed below) the document is then named descriptively and placed in the client's directory or the appropriate subdirectory. A link to the document is placed in the document index of the client’s file in my case management software (also discussed below). When we generate a document a copy is likewise placed in the client’s directory and linked to the appropriate place in the case management software.

My staff notifies me with an email upon the receipt and scanning of every document we receive. I either pull the document up on my computer screen and examine it at the time I receive the email or convert the email to a "to-do" item in my case management software that reminds me to look at it later.

When I have a need for a document, whether because I've received a phone call concerning it; I need to refer to it in preparing another document; or for any other reason, I go to the clients file in the case management software, look at the document link index and locate the document. I then click on the link to open it. Once its on my computer screen I can print it out if I need a hard copy, annotate it with my document management software, or convert all or part of it to a pdf file it I want to email it to someone. The only time I every touch my actual file folder containing the hard copies of the documents is when I'm going to court, or on the relatively few occasions when I need the actual document.

If I have ten phone calls to make requiring me to refer to documents or notes from ten different files, rather than go and get ten file folders, I simply open the file in the case management software for the first call, locate the phone number in the contacts list associated with the file, open the relevant documents or locate the relevant notes that my staff or I have typed into the software about activity on the case and make the call. I finish that one and repeat the procedure for the next nine. If I receive five calls in the process I simply open the relevant file in the software and pull up the documents or notes I need. The notes and documents are always there because they are immediately scanned filed and linked to the software. When I finish, rather than having fifteen files on my desk with documents removed and in disarray, I have no files on my desk, all the documents in place, and notes about the phone calls linked to the appropriate electronic files. In short, everything is always where its supposed to be and quickly retrievable.

I had no idea how much time my staff and I spent handling hard copies files and documents until we virtually eliminated it by going paperless. We now handle the hard copy of a document once except on the rare occasions when we need the actual hard copy for something.

Additionally, I periodically sync all the client files on my server with my laptop computer where I have the portable version of my case management software installed. As I write this month’s column, I am on a plane to New York City. I have my entire practice on this laptop. While there, I’ll work on a brief and use the electronic copies of the trial transcripts and downloaded legal research. I'll sync the laptop with my server when I return and place the updated draft of the brief on the server. I'll probably handle several phone calls while away from my office and have the documents I need to discuss literally at my fingertips.

Obviously, I’m sold on the concept of a paperless office. It's allowed me to drastically improve the efficiency of my office and has unchained me from my desk. There is nothing particularly difficult about setting up a paperless system in a small office. Here are some of the concepts and equipment I think are important. I don't have any interest in pushing a particular product, so I'm going to tell you what I use and how I came to select certain products over others in hopes that you'll take a look at what I've done and make choices that are uniquely suited for your office.

The most important requirement for a successful paperless office is staff and lawyers committed to the concept and willing to perform the routine tasks necessary to make it work. The system won't work if every document isn't scanned or saved into the appropriate client file and indexed for retrieval. If the document you need has been sitting in a pile for two weeks waiting to be scanned and you have to go fish out of the stack to use it, you haven't gained anything. It must be an important part of someone’s job description to make sure that the documents are processed immediately and correctly. I'm often asked, "What if my staff just doesn't like dealing with scanning documents?" My answer is always "You need to replace them with staff that does." It is simply that important to the system and that necessary to achieving the level of efficiency possible with it.

As far as hardware is concerned, there are a couple of important considerations. It is essential to store all the electronic documents on a central computer in a directory system accessible by each workstation where the documents will be used. This means that the computers should be networked with a central computer designated as the “file server,” or the computer where the document files will reside. This can be accomplished in offices with under ten or so computers with a simple peer-to-peer network arrangement with either server software or Windows XP professional or Windows 2000 professional running on the file server. Windows XP Home Edition limits the number of simultaneous network connections to five so it’s not a good operating system choice for a file server. Of course, the file server may be part of a domain in a more sophisticated network if you have that kind of configuration. (See last months column for a general discussion of peer-to-peer and domain server networks)

It’s extremely important to carefully choose a scanner with a sheet feeder. Important considerations are scanning speed, the capacity and reliability of the sheet feeder and compatibility with the rest of your software. The scanner’s speed should be considered along with the sheet feeder’s reliability. A scanner rated at 10 pages per minute isn’t as useful as one rated at 4 pages per minute if you have to clear a misfeed every four or five sheets.

Hewitt Packard makes affordable scanners in the 3-5 page per minute range with 20-50 page capacity sheet feeders. These scanners are relatively slow but are extremely reliable. They can be purchased in the $275 to $500 range defending on the model and sale prices. I used a couple of 6300 series HP scanners for about 2 years and found then to be very reliable but slow. The volume of paper in my office soon made me look for an upgrade.

We now use the Fujitsu 620C Scanpartner. This scanner is rated at 20 pages per minute and has a 50-page document feeder. We have found them to feed flawlessly. It is literally months between misfeeds.

I purchased our two via Ebay. One was factory refurbished and went for about $700. (They’ve gone up a little lately) The other was purchased from an individual seller for about $450. The factory-refurbished units are a good buy. These scanners sell new for about $1,800 and the factory refurbished ones appear to be in like new condition. The come with a 90-day warranty. (As far as I can tell Fujitsu uses Ebay as the exclusive outlet for its refurbished units). It’s more of a risk to buy from an individual seller but the prices are lower. I had to return one non-working unit for a replacement, but the seller was extremely cooperative.

The scanner should be located where it’s easily accessible to the staff member who will have the primary responsibility to scan the documents. The easier it is to get the documents scanned the more likely it is that it will get done.

Make sure when selecting a scanner that it will interface properly with the document management software that you plan to use. Scanners come with drivers, the software that lets it be operated from the computer. The document management software is a program that receives the document after it is scanned and allows you to edit or manipulate the document as well as easily file it in the appropriate directory.

I use Scansoft’s Paperport as my document management software. Not all scanners interface smoothly with this program, however. If you want to be able to use all of Paperport’s features it’s important to chose a compatible scanner. Paperport’s webpage contains a list of compatible brands and models. The HP sheet feeder scanners are generally compatible as are the Fujitsu 620Cs. With some non-compatible scanners, documents must be scanned into Paperport one page at a time. This is prohibitively slow. Conversely, with the Fujitsu 620C a large document can be scanned 50 pages at a time and then combined into a single document with a mouse click.

Paperport also integrates well with the case management software I use, Amicus Attorney, a program that combines many features such as group calendaring, document generation, document linking and a host of other convenient features. After a document is scanned it appears on Paperport’s desktop. It can then be dragged with the mouse to the Amicus icon at the bottom of the desktop causing an explorer window to pop up so that a network directory can be selected in which to place the document. After a selection is made an Amicus dialog box appears where you chose the client file and document category in which to place a link to the document.

In next month’s column, I’ll talk more about Paperport, Amicus and their features. I’ll also discuss selecting and using a case management software application and other tips for using a paperless office.

E. G. “Gerry” Morris is a solo practitioner and has practiced law for over 27 years in Austin, Texas. He is certified as a Criminal Law Specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. His firm web site is at www.egmlaw.com. Email your comments and questions to Gerry at tech@egmlaw.com.