A PaperLess Practice - MoBarCLE

1 2016. A PaperLess Practice TODD N. HENDRICKSON. LAW OFFICES OF TODD N. HENDRICKSON, | St. Louis, Missouri Table of Contents WHAT IS A PaperLess LAW Practice ? 4. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF GOING PaperLess ? 5. ECONOMIC SAVINGS 5. TIME SAVINGS 5. AUTOMATION 6. OUTSOURCING 6. FILE STORAGE SAVINGS 7. SCANNING: THE KEY TO GOING PaperLess 8. WORKING WITH DIGITAL FILES 8. CONVERTING TO PaperLess : EQUIPMENT 9. CHOOSING THE RIGHT HARDWARE 9. CENTRALIZED COPIER/SCANNER/PRINTER 9. ALL IN ONE SOLUTIONS 9. SMALL FORMAT DESKTOP SCANNERS 10. SPECIALTY SCANNERS 11. IF NOTHING ELSE IS AVAILABLE USE YOUR SMARTPHONE! 11.

2 SOFTWARE--WHAT YOU NEED 11. WORKING WITH DIGITAL FILES ADOBE ACROBAT PRO 12. HIGHLIGHTING 12. BATES STAMPING 12. TYPEWRITER 13. BOOKMARKING 13. REDACTION 13. ADOBE TRICKS 13. BATES NUMBERING 13. HEADERS/FOOTERS 15. BOOKMARKING 17. OCR: OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION 18. STAMPS 19. REDACTION 20. DEVELOP A PaperLess WORKFLOW 21. CLOUD STORAGE 21. DROPBOX OR OTHER CLOUD STORAGE 21. HOW DOES DROPBOX WORK? 21. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE PAPER? 22. STORED/CLOSED FILES 22. EXISTING FILES 22. WHAT TO DO WITH PAPER AS IT COMES IN? SCAN IT AND THEN 22. DECIDE IF YOU NEED TO RETAIN THE ORIGINAL 22. RETURN IT TO THE CLIENT 22.

3 2. AVOID GETTING PAPER IN THE FIRST PLACE 23. SHRED IT 23. WORK FLOW TIPS 23. DIGITAL SIGNATURES 23. FORM TEMPLATES 23. PRINT TO PDF 24. DIGITAL LETTERHEAD 24. SIGNATURE FONT 27. STAMP 27. DIGITAL SIGNATURE 27. RESOURCES 28. 3. It isn't really possible for a law office to have no paper, but we can deal with less paper on a day to day basis. Thus, a PaperLess Practice is the goal. What is a PaperLess Law Practice ? A PaperLess law Practice is one that relies upon digital files rather than paper files. You won't be able to stop buying paper and envelopes and postage. But by maintaining your complete client file in a digital format, you will reduce costs and increase productivity.

4 You will be able to access any part of your file with just a few clicks or key-strokes. If you use cloud storage, you can access your file from your smart phone, iPad or any computer. A PaperLess Practice relies primarily upon the Portable Document Format, or .pdf file. Think of a .pdf as a digital copy or photograph of a document. When you scan a document to create a .pdf, you are going through the same process as creating a copy, but rather than a paper output, you get a digital file that can be stored, printed out, searched and manipulated. The biggest barrier to going PaperLess is not technology.

5 It is mindset. In a firm setting, you will need to achieve buy-in from everyone in your office. You really can't have any holdouts. You are fundamentally changing the way you maintain your client files and you cannot have two systems operating side-by-side, at least not if you want to realize the efficiencies of a PaperLess Practice . 4. What are the benefits of going PaperLess ? Economic Savings One of the first benefits you'll notice is probably the initial, obvious economic advantage--you buy, and store, less paper. Using less paper means printing less paper, making fewer copies, less toner and ink.

6 You store less paper, both in your office for active files and long-term storage of closed files. We all know that closed file storage is a constant logistical issue and that there is no truly inexpensive option for storing large quantities of closed files and accessing them simply and efficiently. Overall, once you've made the initial outlay for the necessary technology, a PaperLess Practice will definitely save cash. But saving money on supplies and storage isn't where you'll find real savings. The biggest benefit of a PaperLess Practice is the increased time efficiency you will realize. The economic savings increase with time.

7 The longer you are PaperLess , the more your savings will mount. Over years your purchase costs and storage costs will tumble. If you move your office, you'll notice a tremendous savings. With a traditional paper based office, you are forced to move literally tons of paper. With a PaperLess Practice , that simply isn't the case. Time Savings Once you commit to the process, you will spend virtually no time trying to locate anything in a paper file. It will be in your client's digital file, searchable and available to you and everyone in the firm. You will save staff time, to the point that you will need fewer staff.

8 By assuring that everything is entered in the client's digital file, you will probably never touch the actual paper again-if you maintain a paper file at all. Think about that how much staff time is spent now in repetitive handling of reams of medical and other client records? Scan them once and you can file away the originals, or give them back to your client, and only print out what is needed for opposing counsel and witnesses, when and, more importantly, if you need them. And I've found that how I maintain the paper file I do keep while the case is pending has changed. Rather than an assistant meticulously filing each document in its assigned folder in reverse chronological order (an unrealized goal for many of us) I can simply place any document that I do feel a need to keep in a centralized file.

9 I've found there is really no need to separate the documents, because once you commit to the system, you'll likely find that you almost never need to go back to the original paper-another time saver. Think of it this way: chances are, at some point, you are going to make one or more copies of almost every piece of paper that comes into your office on a given case. Whether it is to send copies to opposing counsel, your client, expert witnesses, for filing with the court or for use at trial, you are likely going to copy that piece of paper at least once, and probably many, many times. By using your copier/scanner to scan it the minute it comes into your office, you never 5.

10 Have to copy it again. Save the scanned image to a file and you can print out as many copies as you need, whenever you need it, without ever having to locate the document and feed the copier again. Better yet, the idea of going PaperLess is to avoid printing whenever you can. By avoiding printing, you avoid the cost associated with printing and mailing reams of paper. Instead, you can e- mail documents. Alternatively, you can copy multiple files (like voluminous medical records) to CD. and mail the CD to opposing counsel or your expert witness. It's much less expensive and much more efficient. The concept of a PaperLess Practice is no longer new.