White Papers and Articles

16 10, 2017

Digitized Documents Prevent Reckless Record-Keeping

2018-05-23T23:29:42-07:00October 16th, 2017|White Papers and Articles|

Legal practices which use paper to maintain an official matter file put themselves and their clients at risk.  Rather, if the firm digitizes records in the normal course of business, the paper records can be shredded and with them, their associated costs and risk.

This Los Angeles Times article offers a vivid example. The new president of a California homeowners’ association recounts how they replaced the group’s attorney of more than 30 years, and discovered that all records older than 10 years had been destroyed without notifying the association’s board.

In response, authors Donnie Vanitzian, an arbitrator, and attorney Zachary Levine offer the new HOA president options for possible legal resolution as the association seeks the return of its records. They note that it’s common for legal engagement letters to specify that records may be archived, then destroyed after specified periods of time.

While the relevant state law doesn’t address how long an attorney must retain client files, they say “every attorney has a duty to return client files on request absent a prior agreement.”

Digitized records are an obvious solution, and DocSolid’s Paper2Digital solutions enable a seamless workflow for eliminating these kinds of problems, and driving a full electronic matter file within a firm’s document management system (DMS).

KwikTag Legal, an integrated scanning platform which embeds capture within law firms’ existing document management software, manages inbound paper from the first point of entry, through a scanning and profiling process, with built-in quality control checks to enable confident shredding.

Postmark identifies paper documents that have been printed in-house from an electronic document already filed in the DMS. Postmark prints a small bar code in a corner of the document. This bar code branding on the paper denotes that a corresponding electronic copy is filed in the DMS. After the paper document is used, it can be destroyed instead of filed at any stage of the paper lifecycle. Postmark alone can reduce a firm’s filed paper records by 50-70%.

As records are digitized, a firm can then update its engagement letter, informing clients that it keeps an electronic matter file in the DMS, and that an electronic copy is available upon matter closing. It can also note that any papers of record that have not been scanned into the DMS will also be provided at closing.

The updated letter should also specify that all matter material will be maintained for a prescribed time period and then destroyed. It can provide for a second notice to the client as well. The update should also specify that the firm does not house the client’s original paper documents and describe how it scans them upon receipt, incorporating them into the DMS, then promptly returns the originals.

Document retention problems like the one faced by this homeowners’ association can create costly, time-consuming disputes, but DocSolid’s Paper2Digital practice easily prevents them from arising in the first place.

KwikTag Legal is now Postmark Scan

 

 

 

16 06, 2017

Enterprises Need a Paper Lifecycle and Retirement Management Strategy

2017-06-16T06:30:39-07:00June 16th, 2017|White Papers and Articles|

Today, the majority of enterprises are pursuing a ‘paper to digital’ strategy as part of their digital transformation programmes. However interestingly, many will admit that the strategy hasn’t led to a significant reduction in paper in their business, which is a key objective of such initiatives alongside making cost savings and enhancing data security. The key reason why their efforts are proving to be ineffective is a lack of a complete, end-to-end paper lifecycle and retirement management strategy. This has major implications for the upcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance too and unfortunately, organisations are inadvertently putting their businesses at extreme risk of non-compliance with this regulation in the absence of such an approach.

Research by DocSolid reveals an interesting scenario, albeit in the legal sector, but one that is likely representative of other professional services and mainstream enterprises too. 57% of all paper in law firms is a printout of existing electronic files stored in their document management system (DMS).

To read the full article by Roy Russell in ITProPortal, click here.

19 04, 2017

How to Solve the Paper Records Workflow That’s Killing Your Firm

2021-08-04T15:25:27-07:00April 19th, 2017|White Papers and Articles|

In DocSolid’s 2016 IG-Records Survey, it was found that 57% of a firm’s formally-filed paper documents were printed directly from the firm’s own paperless document management system. That percentage would grow another 39% if you gathered up all the other DMS-printed paper that is scattered around the firm — on lawyers’ desks, in secretary workstations, and in hallway boxes.

So, if we already have these documents properly stored in the DMS, why do we print, file, store, and archive them as paper?

To start, we print because many attorneys like to work with paper. That is why almost all law firms still run enormous paper filing operations. We keep filing, refiling, moving, and storing DMS-printed paper documents because the filing staff, and even the attorney, aren’t sure if the corresponding electronic version is in the DMS. The paper is filed, and the print-file-store-archive cycle continues.

Paper Workflow Solution for Paperless Law Firms

13 04, 2017

ROI of Going Digital at Lindquist & Vennum

2018-06-27T23:13:28-07:00April 13th, 2017|White Papers and Articles|

Two years ago, Lindquist moved to a fully electronic matter file, and the benefits continue to flow both in the service of our clients and back to the firm, providing substantial savings, productivity and information governance. Here’s a look at what we did.

The process began by accommodating a small group of attorneys who wanted increased mobility and access to their files from remote locations. Their success created momentum within the firm to move to a fully electronic matter file, which we did in January of 2015.

To create the fully electronic matter file, Lindquist needed a productive solution for scanning and integrating documents into the document management system (DMS). Lindquist selected KwikTag Legal because it is an integrated scanning solution that embeds within our existing application software. It manages related paper digitally and scans directly to our existing DMS.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.docsolid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Paper-To-Digital-KwikTag-Legal.pdf”]

2 03, 2017

Making the Business Case for Going Digital: 360 Degrees of ROI

2021-08-04T15:51:49-07:00March 2nd, 2017|White Papers and Articles|

Conventional law firm paper records systems are not sustainable in today’s legal market. More law firms are getting serious about paperless office solutions, for a variety of return on investment (ROI) reasons. The cost, risk, and inefficiencies of paper records are severe business burdens to the practice of law. Removing paper from the document management process improves the speed and quality of service delivery. Aligning a law firm’s paper-to-digital initiative to specific payback targets brings clarity to the return on investment and allows for usage of the 360-degree ROI model.

A formal ROI process, supported by detailed spreadsheets of financial affirmation, is rarely the basis for a law firm moving forward with a paperless office solution. Rather, a long list of obvious payback benefits is cited. The firm begins a project to drive through a sequenced subset of those ROI targets based on the project approach.

DocSolid Making The Business Case For Going Digital- 360 Degrees Of ROI

23 06, 2016

Law Firm Makes a Case for Simplified Workflows

2021-08-04T15:49:14-07:00June 23rd, 2016|White Papers and Articles|

It’s no secret that complex litigation generates reams of files and paperwork. Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, a law firm specializing in large civil defense cases involving casualty, professional liability, health care, and workers’ compensation, wanted to become a paperless law firm. For the firm, managing large volumes of documentation and ensuring that critical files and documents are available when and where they are needed is critical. With upwards of 500 lawyers in 20 offices scattered across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Florida, and Ohio, “There is a need to be efficient and manage costs,” explained Roger Bonine, the firm’s Director of Information Technology.

Although the law firm has made every attempt to migrate from paper to digital systems, the basic realities of dealing with clients, other law firms and various court systems creates enormous challenges.

To learn more about the firm’s experience working to become a paperless law firm through their work with KwikTag, read the full article in CIO Insight here.

KwikTag Transforms Legal Document Management Form Paper-To-Digital

19 05, 2016

3 Tips for the Right Scanning Solution to Close the Digital Gap

2021-08-04T15:45:28-07:00May 19th, 2016|White Papers and Articles|

Firms must close the gap between digital and physical files in order to reduce paper management costs, meet information governance and security standards, and enable attorneys to be more mobile and productive. The right legal document management scanning solution is essential to this process.

However, too many firms are still paying for and using weak scanning software built into their equipment contracts rather than a strong, specialized solution that truly meets the needs.

In Legaltech News, DocSolid President Steve Irons weighs in with 3 essential tips for replacing your casual, copier-based scanning with a serious, enterprise solution. To read the article in Legaltech News, click here.

Legal Tech 3 Tips For Scanning

1 03, 2016

4 Ways to Quickly Achieve a Digital Matter File: A Case Study

2021-08-04T15:37:32-07:00March 1st, 2016|White Papers and Articles|

By Lynette Harris, Anderson, McPharlin & Conners, Legaltech News

When I joined the Los Angeles-based civil litigation defense firm Anderson McPharlin & Conners in 2012, I was committed to bring immediate, added value. The firm faced an office relocation in January 2015 and was assessing space utilization. The cost of storing records, both on and offsite, were specific targets. The firm needed to eventually eliminate both costs and find a paperless office solution. I believed that a digital initiative could address many of the firm’s challenges.

We were paying $1,500 per month in offsite records and that cost was continuously increasing. On the one hand, there was significant room for improving our management of sending boxes offsite. We had a retention schedule in place, but no one was managing it. The firm was also paying $1,200 per month for an onsite storage space that didn’t match our needs. I was tasked with eliminating records storage boxes as part of the relocation. I was faced with hundreds of boxes and no formal records management software.

I knew I wanted to move the firm to a paperless future. Doing so was a complex process. However, in retrospect, it came down to four simple steps.

4 Ways Quickly Master Digital Document Storage

19 02, 2016

The Digital Official Matter File: Holy Grail or Business Mandate?

2018-06-27T23:43:58-07:00February 19th, 2016|White Papers and Articles|

Clients want their law firms to use technology to improve efficiency, and they want the security and governance of their information to meet today’s business and cyber challenges. Attorneys want to manage a matter in a way that provides productivity and integrity.

A fully digital official matter file controlled by the document management system (DMS), is crucial to meet these client and attorney objectives. But, paper records are the boat anchor that keep this ship from sailing.

In the latest issue of Legal Management Magazine, DocSolid President Steve Irons weighs in on this and more, and outlines a practical approach for making the switch from Paper2Digital.

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.docsolid.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Going-Paperless-Office-With-Digital-Filing-System.pdf”]

13 07, 2015

ILTA Releases DocSolid’s Paper2Digital Master Plan for Law Firms

2021-08-04T15:34:35-07:00July 13th, 2015|White Papers and Articles|

This ILTA white paper: Paper2Digital Master Plan outlines how law firms can move to a digital record management system.

Keeping paper records is a major expense, and a relentless cause of inefficiency and risk. About half of all attorneys still prefer to work with paper, so most law firms continue to accept the precedent of files, folders, boxes, file rooms, and offsite records storage. We need to fix this. We need a fully digital matter file. We need a plan to get there. This white paper provides guidance for that plan.

Paper to Digital Master Plan

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