THE PAPERLESS OFFICE: REAL OR LEGEND?

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2 THE PAPERLESS OFFICE: REAL OR LEGEND? Table of Contents 1. Speaker biography 2. PowerPoint presentation Note: For your convenience, and to save trees, all of the material included in this table of contents may be downloaded directly to your computer from Hightail at HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE SEMINAR MATERIALS: 1) Enter the URL in your browser, and you will arrive at the download page on Hightail. What shows is the beginning of the Title of the seminar. There are two options in orange buttons immediately to its right. One is Save, the other Download. 2) You want to pick Download. 3) When the download dialog box opens, you click on Save, then OK. You will then see your Windows Explorer window open. The title of the file will show under File name. 4) Navigate to the exact folder in which you want to save the document, and then hit SAVE. Note: Hightail is not Mac friendly. Use a PC to download. 3. TechnoFeature article entitled How Will You Organize Your Electronic File Cabinet? 4. article entitled Case Management Software: Can It Really Transform Your Practice? 5. article entitled Organizing Your Electronic Information 6. article entitled The Paperless Office: Real or Legend? 7. article entitled Desktop Search Engines: An Exciting New Tool 8. TechnoLawyer article compilation on scanning 9. article entitled The Electric Solo 10. article entitled From Paper to Kilobytes - updated 11. article entitled In Search of the Paper Less Office: What Really Works 12. article entitled Building the Paperless Office

3 13. article entitled Steps Along the Paperless Path Keys to a Successful Scanning Implementation 14. Software Resource List

4 ELLEN FREEDMAN, CLM Ellen serves as the Law Practice Management Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Bar Association. In that capacity she assists PBA s members with management issues and decisions on the business side of their practice, including areas like technology, financial management and profitability, human resources, marketing, risk management, setting up a practice and so forth. PBA members are encouraged to contact Ellen through the 800 Hot Line at PBA headquarters, ( x2228) or through (lawpractice@pabar.org). Ellen is founder and President of Freedman Consulting, which assists PA law firms with a full range of issues and projects on the business side of the practice. More information about Ellen and her law practice management services may be obtained at Ellen also publishes the Law Practice Management blog at Ellen holds the designation of Certified Legal Manager through the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA), the credentialing body for the CLM degree. Of the 11,000+ members of the ALA, approximately 260 are certified legal managers. Ellen was one of the first 20 in the nation to have achieved this designation. She holds a Certification in Computer Programming from Maxwell Institute, and a Certification in Web Site Design and a B.A. from Temple University. Ellen managed inside law firms for twenty years. Most of that time was spent in a mid-size (35+ attorney) firm environment. She launched her consulting practice in 1998, and joined the Pennsylvania Bar Association in Ellen is an associate member of the American Bar Association, and its Law Practice Management and General Practice & Small Firm sections. She was a member of the Association of Legal Administrators for over 20 years, and founded the Independence Chapter. She is a frequent author and speaker on law firm management issues on a national level.

5 THE PAPERLESS OFFICE: REAL OR LEGEND? Ellen Freedman, CLM Law Practice Management Coordinator Pennsylvania Bar Association PBA s Law Practice Management Coordinator Ellen Freedman, CLM x2228 LawPractice@PaBar.org assistance for your firm in: Human Resources Technology Financial Mgt / Profitability Equipment buying Strategic planning Marketing Start-up / Closing / Sale Risk management and much more Can a law firm actually be paperless? 1

6 The Paper LESS Office TM Ross Kodner President Microlaw, Inc. The Paper-Independent Firm: Goal to strive for which is achieved in incremental steps Provides independence from the physical file Enables you to practice law on a virtual office basis Advantages of being Paper-Independent: Efficient use of work product Enhanced trial or closing prep Virtual office enables better balance of work and home obligations Easier document exchange Disaster recovery Staff LOVE it! 2

7 Who should / can work on a paper-independent basis? Litigation Domestic Real Estate Corporate Other practice areas Transactional Incremental steps to get there: Scan in outside documents Electronic fax receipt Document management software Case management software Electronic meeting and telephone call notes Extra steps to finish the job Depositions on disk Unified messaging Add knowledge management tools and practice applications Litigation Support Document Assembly Estates software 3

8 Start today and go forward In order to successfully become a Paper-Independent firm you need: Lawyers proficient in Windows A good consultant (maybe) To buy best/fastest equipment you can afford To avoid skimping on training To hold people accountable To set realistic goals To not reinvent the wheel The Hardware: Windows 7 Pro (64 bit) Dual or quad core / GHz / 4-8 Gb RAM 20 + flat panel monitor(s) Fast laser printers with extra memory Shared network communications Electronic faxing Distributed scanners and/or one high-speed scanner 4

9 New York LegalTech February Louisiana 7 th Annual Bar Solo Indiana & Small Solo Firm & Small Conference Firm Conference Personal Desktop Scanner Xerox DocuMate 3115 $400 Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 $ Hot Legal PC Tips, Ross Gadgets L. Kodner, & Websites Esq. in 60 Minutes 2008 Bruce Dorner, 2008 Ellen Freedman, Ross L. Kodner, Ross Kodner, Esq. All Rights Adriana Reserved Linares. All Rights Reserved 13 Portable Scanner 12.3 ounces Scan a color, lettersize sheet in 7.5 seconds PC or Mac USB 2.0 Paper: 14 to 56 lbs Lots of software included Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 $ The Software: Office 2010 or 2013 / WordPerfect Document Management Document Imaging & OCR Network faxing or internet-based fax Case Management 5

10 Case Management Overview Conflict Checking Docket/Calendaring Financial information access Timekeeping tools Contacts Notes Document and tracking Do the Math! If the software saves you just 15 minutes per day: Bill 15 more minutes per day Bill at $120/hour Bill another $30 per day Bill another $150 per week That s about $650 more per month! That comes to $7,800 more per year, per lawyer!!! How to get there with case mgt: 1. Enter data into case management upon opening of new matters 2. Scan in documents from outside 3. Index everything in document management or link directly to matter in case mgt 4. Use it as a central repository for all the bric-a-brac information associated with files no more sticky notes! 5. Enter all appts, tasks, and people 6

11 Warning!!!! Market consolidation by the big names (Lexis/Nexis and Thomson/West) makes the future of many products uncertain. For example, Billing Matters is discontinued by LN. What exists today may not be around tomorrow, no matter how big the installed base. Don t pay to over-customize. Be prepared and budget to upgrade software regularly. Training is NOT an option or luxury it s a necessity!!! Today s tech environment is just too complicated to skip training.. Unless you LIKE hiring new employees and wasting money! Make everything portable and available through Remote Access 7

12 Hardware for remote access Virtual private network -- SSL VPN appliances A virtual private network (VPN) is a communications network tunneled through another network, and dedicated for a specific network. One common application is secure communications through the public Internet. VPN Appliances Hardware Smartphones & ipads Apple ipad Apple iphone HTC Wildfire Android phone Blackberry 23 Portable Hard Drives Seagate 100 Gb -- $112 Toshiba 200 GB USB 2.0. Selfpowered. $229 Take the entire contents of all your client files with you! Wonderful back-up strategy as well. 8

13 Secure cloud storage / private cloud Conclusion: Make your system idiot proof Avoid malpractice Recapture lost time Information 24x7 Virtual office Readily available software Realistic expectations Questions 9

14 Connect with me! Ellen Freedman, CLM Blog: Facebook: LinkedIn: 10