Document Scanning Blog

One of the biggest challenges to any legal practice is the management of paperwork that must be copied, distributed, filed and stored. Fortunately, there are now many off-the-shelf solutions for digital online storage of legal paperwork, but first all of these documents must be scanned. Many law offices shy away from going paperless because they cannot devote the time or resources to scanning and cataloging every pleading, petition, contract and brief. Like many law firms, a decision needs to be made about whether to do the document scanning in small increments over a long period of time, or hire a document scanning company to come in and do it for them. However, even if the bulk of the documents are scanned by professionals, law offices must still invest in a reliable scanner to keep up with the constant flow of paperwork. In many cases, law firms choose to only digitize certain types of documents, such as archived casework, and use paper documents for all original pleadings, signature-related documents and evidence. The most important caveat, particularly for smaller firms, is that the process of going paperless doesn’t prevent lawyers from doing what they do best – practicing law. Only when this type of endeavor is managed properly can a small office begin to compete with larger firms. Once all the important documents have been scanned, a computerized case management system must be in place to keep everything in order. These programs perform many tasks, including case management, maintaining detailed client accounts, and organizing documents both by client and subject matter. There are several case management software packages on the market, each with varying price points and benefits. Another valuable addition to any paperless law office is a digital law library. Using a document scanning system like this, it is possible to copy and paste citations and statutes into legal petitions and pleadings.