Volume 20, Number 5 July/August 2003
TOO MUCH RAIN, NO ONE TO DO ALL THE WORK
HANDLE MORE WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH A PAPERLESS OFFICE
By David L. Masters
If your rainmaking has proved so successful that you find
yourself in danger of drowning, the answer might be less costly
than hiring additional staff and less unpleasant than turning
away lucrative clients. A modest investment in new technology can
make your solo or small practice more efficient-and better able
to handle the additional work coming your way. You may want to
start by converting to a paperless office.
The paperless office has many components that replace paper-based
systems with digital technology. For example, paperless offices
use practice management systems that eliminate paper-based
calendars, address books, tickler systems, time and billing
systems, and general accounting systems. Another component of the
paperless office involves storing all documents for each matter
in digital format. Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF)
stands out as the format of choice. Simple enough, but this
statement raises several important questions: Why PDF? How are
the PDF files created? Where are the PDF files stored?
Why PDF? Adobe Acrobat provides good image acquisition
capabilities, the ability to perform optical character
recognition (OCR) on the files while retaining an exact image of
the scanned pages, and easy sharing with other users. Printing
documents to PDF for clients to review, particularly in
transactional matters, provides a degree of protection for the
attorney work product that does not exist when editable word
processing documents are sent to the client. A number of
jurisdictions have activated systems for electronically filing
documents with the courts; documents filed electronically are
converted to Adobe PDF files (if not already in that format).
Current versions of Word and WordPerfect contain drivers to
publish word processing files to PDF. The federal courts are
moving to an electronic filing system, again using the PDF
format. If the courts are using PDF, then it should be a good
standard for use in the office. Adobe Acrobat should not be
confused with Acrobat Reader; the latter is a free program that
anyone with an Internet connection can obtain and that you can
distribute freely with your PDF document collections.
In addition to using Adobe Acrobat for converting paper to
digital images, it makes the paperless files truly usable. For
example, bookmarks and sticky notes can be added to image-only
files. If the files have a text background, they can be
highlighted (pick a color, any color), underlined, and
struck-through. PDF files with background text can be searched;
image-only files cannot be searched, but information contained in
the "Document Summary" or in attached notes will be included in
indexes of document collections or can be found using the search
function in Windows Explorer.
How are the PDF files created? PDF files are created by printing
to PDF from the application used to create the document (Word,
WordPerfect, Excel, E-Binder, etc.) or by scanning to PDF. In
Word select Convert to PDF from the Acrobat menu. In WordPerfect
select Publish to PDF from the File menu. These files look
exactly like the original and have a searchable text background.
In most other applications, select Print from the File menu and
then select either PDF Writer or Acrobat Distiller as the printer
(requires that the full version of Adobe Acrobat be installed).
In some applications it may be necessary to find and select a PDF
printer through a "printer setup" menu item.
Where are the PDF files stored? PDF files are stored in a shared
folder on the local area network. By doing this, everyone in the
office has access to all client and office files from their
desktop. If files are maintained digitally, they can also be
stored on a laptop hard disk drive by synchronizing with the
network. By scanning or printing to PDF, the electronic files
contain copies of all incoming paper and all outgoing work
product. As high-tech as scanning and printing to PDF may sound,
the storage and organizational system adheres to an old-fashioned
filing cabinet metaphor. The filing cabinet exists in virtual
space (on a computer hard disk drive shared over a local area
network). The filing cabinet has a name, "Work" (we also have
filing cabinets for Closed Files, AdminFiles, etc.). Each
computer on the network links to the filing cabinet by mapping a
network drive (e.g., X:\Work). Now each desktop has access to the
filing cabinet "Work." Within the filing cabinet are scores of
folders, one for each client (e.g., X:\Work\Smith). If a client
has several matters, the client's folder has a subfolder for each
distinct matter (e.g., X:\Work\Smith\Corporation and
X:\Work\Smith\Wills). Within each client matter folder are
folders for various types of documents, such as correspondence,
pleadings, expense receipts, research, and privilege.
Using technology to operate a paperless office allows solo and
small firm lawyers to handle more work by being more efficient.
You can use this efficiency to take on the potential clients your
rainmaking has brought. (Or you can keep your current client load
and enjoy some extra fee time; you make the choice.)
David L. Masters practices law in Montrose, Colorado, and can be reached at dlm@masterslawfirm.com.
Enjoy the benefits of membership:
- Award-Winning Periodicals
- Special Member Discounts
- Practice Area Committees
- Continuing Legal Education
- Networking Opportunities
- Leadership Opportunities
