One Lawyer Goes Paperless

by Gordon P. Firemark

I am a sole practitioner who focuses on transactional matters in the entertainment industry. Two years ago, I decided to bring my law office into the 21st century by going paperless. It was the right move, but I must confess that I didn't really know what I was in for.

As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time drafting and reviewing contracts and consulting with clients. Over the years, I've filled walls of filing cabinets with tons of paper. But no more. Today when printed documents arrive at my office, they are digitized and discarded as quickly as possible.

Plenty of Payoffs
Eliminating paper takes work and requires an investment of time and money, but the tangible benefits justify the effort. Going paperless not only saves precious natural resources; it also preserves capital because storing paper files requires physical space--and real estate costs money.

Digital storage, on the other hand, costs very little. Hard drives are incredibly compact and involve a minor, one-time expense of a few hundred dollars. Having "gone digital," I can carry my files with me, and my mobility is invaluable. I'm able to work wherever and whenever I want, and I always have access to client files, forms, and key documents. Moreover, paper files are vulnerable to loss, theft, damage, and destruction, but backups of digital files can be stored safely at multiple locations for next to no cost. They can also be encrypted, so even if material falls into the wrong hands, prying eyes won't be able to view it. For me, this advantage by itself justifies digitizing my work product.

New Documents
My transition to paperless was divided into several phases. First, I decided not to create any new paper files. I began storing everything I generated in digital form. Straight away I had to break the habit of printing things. Instead of sending files to the office copy machine, I began creating portable document files (PDFs) with just a couple of clicks of the mouse. These can be circulated via email or a secure drop-box system. And for clients who have trouble with digital documents, I am able to send faxes directly from my computer.

Incoming Faxes
Instead of a using a standard fax machine, I opted to receive incoming faxes as electronic documents (again, using the PDF format). The simplest way to do this is to sign up with a Web-based electronic fax service. For a few dollars each month, you can send and receive faxes as PDFs as easily as exchanging email messages.

Scanning Paper
Next, I started scanning things. I began with incoming documents, at first just those related to client matters. Nonclient documents soon followed. And today, most any item that would otherwise go into a file cabinet gets scanned and then shredded.

There is an important exception to this rule: When it comes to official government documents and other paper originals that may be needed in the future, the original piece of paper goes back to the client for safekeeping after it's been scanned for my digital file.

I scan paper documents as soon as they arrive at my office. After that, they go straight into the shredding bin. (Those that require action are temporarily placed in an in-box on my desk until I've handled them.)

Tackling the Backlog
Dealing with existing paper files was an enormous task, and it required hard decisions. Should I scan everything? Or pick a cutoff date and work forward? Should I start with the oldest files or the newest?

I decided to work backward, since my recent files are the ones most likely to require future reference. I began with my form files, selecting those items that had not been rendered obsolete or replaced by digital versions. The selected items were scanned into a digital forms folder on my computer.

I learned from experience that this process takes time. On average, I am able to work my way through eight to ten files an hour. Larger files take longer, as my scanner's feeder handles no more than about 50 pages per load. Preparing the files can be tedious: removing staples, flagging key documents for special labeling, and arranging the items so they can be scanned in appropriate batches. But the more time you spend up front, the smoother the scanning goes.

The Hardware
A paperless office does not require much hardware. A computer, separate storage drives, and a scanner are all you need to get started.

I am a Macintosh user, and my hardware and software selections were driven by compatibility concerns. Fortunately, excellent options exist for both Mac and PC users.

I purchased a high-quality scanner that's capable of digitizing documents swiftly and accurately. A little research led me to conclude I needed a true document scanner. Those consumer-grade flatbed scanners and multifunction print/fax/scan devices are great for family photos and kids' drawings, but they're not suited for the rigors of a law office. Get a machine with a sheet-feeder that quickly performs full-duplex (double-sided) scans of multiple-page documents.

I selected the Fujitsu Scansnap S510M (now replaced by the newer Scansnap S1500M; Microsoft Windows users will want the Scansnap S1500, which costs about $420 online.) These machines have a small footprint but can process 20 pages per minute, front and back.

Your consideration at the other end of the process, when purchasing a shredder, must be security. A machine with a "diamond cutter" that dices paper into minute particles is best. You should find an ample supply of good-quality machines at any office supply store (cost: $100 to $300), but most are intended for low-volume use. Mine, for example, can shred only ten pages at a time. Consequently, I've switched to a document destruction service that delivers a large bin to my location, picks it up when it's full, and destroys the contents (paper, CDs, videocassettes). My service charges a $35-per-pickup flat rate.

The Software
Most scanners come bundled with software for scanning, viewing, and managing files. The Fujitsu Scansnap included Adobe Acrobat Professional, which costs almost as much as the scanner itself if purchased separately.

In my view, the most important part of the Adobe software is its ability to perform optical character recognition (OCR) on PDF documents--a process that converts scanned images of words into searchable electronic text. After a document has been converted, finding it--or a particular phrase it contains--on your computer takes just a few keystrokes.

Managing Files
If you're already using some kind of practice-management application (such as FileCenter by Lucion Technologies), it likely has the capacity to handle scanned documents as well as those created on your computer.

Since I started practicing, I've used the regular hierarchy of folders and subfolders on my computer--where a document is tells me what it is--and for my practice, that works just fine. Still, I'd been looking for a better way to organize, search, and preview files, and recently I settled on an application called Yep (www.ironicsoftware.com). Yep is an alternative to the Finder in the Mac operating system, and it speeds searching across my entire computer. Yep's greatest advantage is that it allows me to add tags to files so they can be grouped by type, context, or other parameters I define. This takes time when I initially label digital documents, but the savings in retrieval time is worth it. Be sure to use tags and descriptions that you're likely to search for later on.

Name Game
One of the most challenging issues is what names to give your digital files. Everyone has a preference, but it's important to use names you'll be able to remember and search for. Consistency and simplicity are key. In addition, you will want to create your own abbreviations for "letter from," "email to," and so forth. File names that start with a date (YYYY-MM-DD) are convenient because they naturally sort in chronological order. I could write a book on how best to name things, but a little thought and collaboration with colleagues will produce a system that works.

For inactive files, I add the word archive to the file name. My archives don't need to be searchable, so I don't run them through OCR software like I do active files, and I scan all the internal documents as one multi-page PDF. The resulting files are smaller and will reside in an archive folder.

Because I don't want to sit around to name each file at the moment it finishes scanning, I create a simple cover page to be scanned along with each file that calls for the file's identifying data. This way, when I do get ready to name the electronic files (in batches, about once a week), I can find everything I need to know just by previewing the first page.

Worth It
My move toward a paperless office has gone smoothly, but old habits die hard: Training myself to review documents on-screen has been a challenge. When I review a contract, I keep a red pen handy so I can mark it up. Then I scan those marked-up pages for digital storage.

By far the largest hurdle has been the process of reviewing existing paper files for material that needs to be returned to clients. That work is time-consuming and requires my full attention--it's nothing I can do during a workday filled with interruptions. So I wind up reviewing files in the evening and on weekends and, as you can imagine, the process is taking far longer than I anticipated.

But my progress is steady, and with each day I am enjoying more and more the benefits of being paperless. It has helped me be a more mobile, responsive, and effective advocate. The financial investment has been slight, but the payoff enormous. Any small office that does not consider the paperless alternative is missing an opportunity to save money while increasing productivity.

Gordon P. Firemark practices theater, film, and new media law in Los Angeles.

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