Internet Newsletter for Lawyers
May/June 2004, by Delia Venables

The Paperless Office
by Peter Garsden

There is a lot of talk about the paperless office. I decided that I would try to turn it into a reality. Here is a description of how a relatively small, 2 partner, 17 fee earning, 2 office suburban practice tried to go paperless. The goal was to do away with all the paper files by saving outgoing post as documents on the computer network and scanning in all incoming post.

Although we wanted to get rid of as much paper as possible, as a safeguard we decided we would store all incoming paper that was needed for legal work offsite. It could then be accessed at some future date if necessary.

In conveyancing transactions, original documents are required despite the publicised intention to become paperless by 2005. Original mortgage deeds and contracts are still required. Naturally, one must store original deeds and wills. It is also prudent to keep original signed Witness Statements and original documents in litigation cases.

We decided that certain documents would not be scanned, such as office invoices (at the request of the cashier), and where documents were voluminous the permission of the fee earner would be obtained. Litigation disclosure, for example, might require special treatment by putting it on CD ROM.

What You Need

You need quite powerful scanning machines, which can scan the post speedily enough for morning distribution. We have two good quality reliable, high speed scanning machines. We did an assessment of our incoming post in order to establish the correct specification. A Fujitsu machine was recommended to us by our IT suppliers. It runs at 16 pages per minute with the facility to add a duplex (double sided scanning) and cost £1500. We also kept our existing HP machine which runs at 10 pages per minute.

We still produce outgoing letters in the normal way, but instead of printing a paper copy we save a copy of the letter onto our computer network. It becomes much more important to save electronic documents efficiently so that they can found and retrieved.

Our computer network mirrors our previous filing cabinet system. In other words, we have a folder for each fee earner within which are separate folders for all his/her files. Within each folder there are separate folders for correspondence and the various types of documents. Each document/letter is saved first of all by date in reverse order so that everything appears in chronological order on the computer. There then follows a description of the type of document – “LET” etc. If it is a document we have created, this is then followed by the creator’s initials. Finally, in parenthesis, there follows a description of what the document was about, and to whom it was sent. An example might be: 04.03.05LETPG(DeliaRePaperlessOffice) [Do not use spaces – computers do not like them].

The system enables one to view documents in a folder in chronological order. This replaces the “thumbing through a file to see what has happened” routine. One then ends up with chronologically ordered lists in computer folders of letters in and out.

One needs a large hard disc on the server to store double the amount of documents. Old files have to be deleted and stored on CD ROM/DVD. Counsel now get a CD ROM/DVD instead of a mountain of paper. Disclosure of documents sometimes takes place on CD ROM/DVD.

How does it work?

One must have a reliable computer network with a shared folder in which all firm files can be stored and viewed. One must decide what format to use for incoming post. The international image standard is a PDF file, which is viewed on the free-to-download Adobe Acrobat Reader software. The files are quite small and compressed. However, you will need more than the free Reader version. We have purchased Adobe Acrobat Standard 6 with which one can insert comments on documents, make text notes and digitally secure images so that they cannot be altered by anyone you send them to. This can be useful when serving documents electronically in Litigation.

If one purchases the Professional edition, then it is possible to create online forms. This is the software used to create Court forms available on the Court Services website. In order to save Court forms on your computer network, one must purchase Adobe Acrobat Approval, which costs about £30. Otherwise one must print off forms completed on the Court website and scan them in at the office.

Alternatively, one can scan in documents as TIFF images. This form of image is universally recognised and is viewed using Wang (Windows 95) or Kodak (Windows 98 and 2000) imaging. As the TIFF imaging viewer comes free with Windows, this is the version we chose. We had to purchase, however, the professional version of this software to use in conjunction with the scanner.

With Case Management Systems, some suppliers offer a scanning package which makes the delivery of the post far simpler. All the post is scanned in as a batch and then allocated to different fee earners. The Case Management System then delivers the post automatically so that it appears on the user’s desktop. Whilst we plan to upgrade to Case Management Software in the near future, we did not have it when we went paperless. Thus we still use conventional email to deliver incoming post.

We had to decide whether to deliver both paper and electronic post. Because no human being is perfect, we decided that it would be better for the fee earner to have the paper as well as the electronic post. They could therefore check that all the incoming post had been scanned correctly. Also, the secretary finds it far easier to copy addresses from paper than from electronic images.

The post, therefore, is scanned in by the admin staff first thing in the morning into a back-up folder on the computer network, which is divided into years, months and then fee earners. We thought it was necessary to create an electronic back up reservoir. All post is saved in the method referred to above by the date it is received. One can easily, therefore, look for incoming post that does not seem to have arrived by email, or has been missed by the fee earner. There are therefore 2 back-ups – one electronic and one paper archive file held offsite.

The fee earner deals with the post that he receives electronically by email and paper. He puts it in his secretarial dictation pile. When the secretary has finished with it, she sends it to the admin staff for offsite storage. The fee earner can save his own post in his own folders, or send the entire batch to his secretary to do it for him. Different fee earners work in different ways.

The true paperless systems abandons the use of cardboard files. However a lot of our fee earners still use both paper and electronic versions. The implementation was too quick (see below). We hope ultimately, when the case management system arrives, to abandon paper altogether.

At Abney Garsden McDonald we specialise in Child Abuse cases. We are currently running about 25 Group Actions. The Lead solicitors have been using the paperless office for at least 6 years. As there would be about 100 Lever Arch files of paper, finding a document quickly would be impossible without a paperless system, particularly as some of the group actions have been running for 8 years.

Support and information

Before I embarked on this course, I did as much research as I could. I could not find a firm of solicitors who had gone paperless although I am sure they exist. I enquired through our IT suppliers, and found a firm who scanned in all their post, but who still used paper files. It did seem therefore as though I was charting new waters. I did find a PI work referrer who had introduced it without any problem to non-legal admin staff dealing with fast turnover low cost RTA cases. They seemed to love it as it saved them so much time and speeded up case turnover considerably. The impetus seemed to be a fixed cost regime.

There are also a number of useful sources of information on the web mostly, it seems, from American suppliers who are trying to market their products. Here is a selection:

Amazon do an American book called "The Myth of the Paperless Office"; there is a review here.

An article I found in PDF form is quite good - here.

I found a very interesting but slightly out of date article (2002) article in the Economist here.

For an American article describing how Human Resources did it in New York see here.

A similar article about Social Services in the USA appears here

There appear to be some dedicated paperless office software around which stores documents in a database for access. This would not suit integration with the Word files we use at the office and is akin to the Case Management solution which is better – see here.

What are the Advantages?

The stationery bill inevitably goes down, because one is not printing off copy letters. This also saves trees.

The time taken to locate documents is much less. Because we specialise in Child Abuse cases, the files are fewer and more voluminous. Trying to find paper in such a big file is sometimes a nightmare. Finding the same electronic document is much quicker - they can be searched for by word, folder, date etc. on the network.

If anything is deleted accidentally there is a tape or paper back-up system going back several months.

We use email as much as possible, particularly for internal communications. This is vital because there needs to be liaison between Group Action co-ordinating solicitors and individual solicitors within the firm. We also communicate externally by email with solicitors as much as possible.

When deadlines are tight and Counsel needs documents as a matter of urgency, we can send any number of documents immediately by email because all our incoming post is scanned in. This Counsel finds very useful.

Whilst it is not a product of the paperless office, we use email to send documents backwards and forwards whilst they are in draft form. In Word, one can use a very useful facility called “Track changes”. Any deletions and additions appear in a different colour and underlined. If one hovers the mouse over the change, one can see who made it. Changes by different people appear in different colours. This saves having to compare 2 documents to see what changes have been made. The facility can also be used in amended Pleadings.

Words such as “Perusing 1 unit dd/mm/yy” can be inserted on images or indeed any text notes. One can print the document off without the annotation appearing. Electronic Sticky Notes can be applied. PDF files (but not TIFF images) can be searched for words or phrases.

What are the disadvantages?

Whilst TIFF images or PDF files are currently used worldwide they could become obsolete. However, as PDF files are used on the Web, the risk seems minimal. In any event we retain a paper back up off site. The question is how long after its creation will you need to view an electronic image?

There is something psychologically reassuring about paper. The computer cannot replace the thumb flick through correspondence, and the ease of going back and forth between documents. Most fee earners have gone back to a paper and electronic file – they see advantages in both systems. Because administration is doubled we are keen, when case management arrives, to go completely paperless. However, all secretaries and support staff much prefer the paperless environment.

Is administration increased? It was not necessary to take on any extra staff; basically the filing clerks became Scanning operatives.

Auditing and File Reviews are perhaps more difficult on screen. Time is saved however as it is easier to source electronic files than paper. The case management system will do away with this problem.

The post sometimes goes to the wrong person. In the same way as paper post (which is also delivered) it is easily forwarded correctly by the fee earner. Email makes it much easier to source post without a reference.

There are difficult issues surrounding original documents, whether to store them internally or off site, and Data Protection issues (not the province of this article).

The storage capacity of the Server hard disk (space is gobbled up more quickly) can become a problem without careful planning. However, disk space is cheap these days.

If secretaries or fee earners use previous documents instead of templates and then save over them, they are lost for ever, unless this is discovered in time, when a back up can be restored to remedy the problem.

Summary

There is no such thing as the “completely paperless office”. I would describe it as a “mostly paperless office”. In my opinion there is no substitute for an armchair book read. For research and word searching, however, electronic documents win every time.

The paperless office has been a partial success. Not all the fee earners in the office have embraced it but hopefully we will achieve a completely paperless environment once the Land Registry sorts itself out and Case Management software is installed. Even though some fee earners have paper and electronic documents, time is still saved.

With hindsight, I would have introduced the paperless office more slowly. It is very important to get the team on board behind you and for rebellions to be avoided. A pilot scheme and lots of communication about the way forward before it happens is essential.

If any reader of this article has achieved the paperless environment, I would be very interested to hear from them.

Peter Garsden is a Partner in Abney Garsden McDonald, www.abneys.co.uk, of Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire. He is a founder member of ACAL (Association of Child Abuse Lawyers). The firm is in the Legal 500, a member of the Multi-Party Action Panel and has members of the firm on the Personal Injury Panel. They specialise in Child Abuse compensation claims and general Personal Injury work.

Email: peter@abneys.co.uk.

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