Abney Garsden McDonald solicitors

THE PAPERLESS OFFICE – A DREAM OR A REALITY?

By Peter Garsden
Partner, Abney Garsden McDonald, Solicitors

There is a lot of talk about the paperless office in the media and elsewhere.

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

The Issues

· Can we go completely paperless?
· What do we replace the paper with?
· What additional software is needed?
· What New Systems had to be Devised?
· What are the Advantages and Disadvantages?

Can we go completely paperless?

Fundamentally we decided that we ought to get rid of as much paper as possible. Out of prudence and safety, however, 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 in (junk mail, 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 do we replace the paper with?

A good quality reliable, high speed scanning machine (we have two). 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 (16 pages per minute with the facility to add a duplex (double sided scanning) – cost £1500). We kept our existing HP machine (10 pages per minute but with a better sheet feeder – cost £600 – but probably less now) which we kept. Thus we have 2 machines. One needs machines, which can scan the post speedily enough for morning distribution.

One still produces outgoing letters in the normal way, but instead of printing off 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 whom it was sent to. An example might be: 04.03.05LETPG(DeliaRe PaperlessOffice) [Do not use spaces – computers do not like them].

The system enables one to view documents in a folder in chronological order. This replaces “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

What additional software is needed?

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. 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 job much easier and 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. We therefore use conventional email to deliver incoming post.

What New Systems had to be Devised?

The most taxing system we had to invent was how 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. One could be compared with the other. 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 the 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.

External Support

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 (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 seemed 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. I was thus encouraged but wondered whether the traditional legal profession would be quite so open minded. I make no comment!

The Web – stupidly I did not search the web before we started. Having looked at Google for the purposes of this article I find acres of support principally from American suppliers who are trying to market their products. Most of the information seems to relate to archiving in order to save the cost of paper storage – a lot of large firms already do this. Amazon do an American book called “The Myth of the Paperless Office”. For a review see http://www.techsoc.com/paperless.htm An article I found in PDF form is quite good - http://www.creativesolutions.thomson.com/products/white-papers/Implementing%20the%20Paperless%20Office.pdf I found a very interesting but slightly out of date article (2002) article in the Economist http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1489224 . For an American article describing how Human Resources did it in New York see http://www.uwnyc.org/technews/v4_n4_a4.html . A similar article about Social Services in USA appears here - http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0805/tec-paper-08-05-02.asp There appear to be some dedicated paperless office software around which stores documents in a database for access. This would not suit integration with Word files we use at the office and is akin to the Case Management solution which is better – see http://www.abacre.com/paperlessoffice/manual/

What are the Advantages?

1. Environmental - Obviously we use much less paper and thus save trees.

2. The stationery bill inevitably goes down , because one is not printing off copy letters.

3. Time taken to find something electronic is a fraction of the time it takes to find paper. If electronic documents are incorrectly filed, they can be searched for by word, folder, date etc. on the network.

4. If anything is deleted accidentally there is a tape or paper back-up system (described above) going back several months.

5. The time taken to locate documents one needs 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. Fortunately, however, one does not necessarily need to leave one’s seat. Backside spread is hopefully something that can be avoided with regular exercise!

6. We tend to 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. Generally, the legal profession is traditional and prefers letters.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

1. Whilst TIFF images or PDF files are worldwide they could become obsolete. As PDF files are used on the Web, the risk seems minimal. One can convert TIFF images to PDF files if they become obsolete. 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?

2. The conversion process for the Fee Earner who is used to his paper file is painful, particularly if they lack confidence with IT. 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 anxious, when case management arrives to go completely paperless. The problem has, however, sparked off training initiatives in IT. All secretaries and support staff (the majority in numbers), however, much prefer the paperless environment.

3. Is administration increased? It was not necessary to take on any extra staff when we went paperless. Basically the filing clerks became Scanning operatives. Even though some fee earners have gone back to paper we can cope with our existing staff.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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).

7. The storage capacity of the Server hard disk (space is gobbled up more quickly) can become a problem without careful planning. Gigabytes of space these days are now relatively cheap.

8. Incorrect saving of documents. If secretaries or fee earners use previous documents instead of templates 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

Do not be misled, 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 book referred to above sums up the reality accurately.

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.

Time is now so important. Efficiency is the key. “Do more work in less time for less money” seems to be the way the world is going.

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, Solicitors, 37 Station Road, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire SK8 5AF. Tel: 0161 482 882. Email: peter@abneys.co.uk. Website: www.abneys.co.uk.

Abney Garsden McDonald is in the Legal 500, a member of the Multi-Party Action Panel and has members of the firm on the Personal Injury Panel. We specialise in Child Abuse compensation claims and general Personal Injury work. Peter Garsden is a founder member of ACAL (Association of Child Abuse Lawyers – www.childabuselawyers.com).

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