Imaging Technology

The Biggest Bang for the Buck

By Bruce A. Olson

RECENTLY I had the pleasure of being part of the faculty at the Minnesota Legal Technology Show. After two days of programs, the show closed with a panel discussion by many of the presenters. This "panel of experts" format allowed the attendees to ask questions on any subject they wanted.

The first person to raise his hand was someone I had seen in each of my presentations, and I knew from chatting with him briefly in the exhibitors' area (where he was carrying a bag stuffed with vendor materials), that he also had attended sessions during every available program slot on each day. He started out his question by saying that he had now seen presentations on case management, document management, litigation management, knowledge management, document assembly, electronic time and billing, voice-activated dictation and a number of other topics.

He was bursting with information and had a serious case of technology overload. He was frustrated because he could see the benefits of each type of technology that had been presented, but he did not have the financial wherewithal or the knowledge, time or energy to try to implement everything that looked like a good idea at once. He had no idea where he should start. He was verging on making the decision to do nothing at all.

He challenged the panel by asking each one of us what we would do if we had to choose just one of the major applications as the place to start. Ultimately, he wanted to know what we thought would give him the greatest immediate boost to his bottom line, and what technology would bring the quickest return on investment.

This was not an easy question to answer. For more than five years now I have worked in a very high tech environment. Everyone in my office uses a desktop computer connected to our network, and some of us use laptops on the road. We have full connectivity with the office from home or from other remote locations. On a daily basis we use both WordPerfect and Word. We image every incoming document, and use a document management system to manage our paperless office. We use groupware for electronic calendaring, tickler systems, e-mail, phone mail and contact management. We send and receive faxes via our pc's. We have high speed Internet access.

I use voice-activated dictation. We use electronic time and billing software, and the time keepers enter their time directly into their PCs and also edit their work-in-progress sheets online. Our law library is entirely electronic. We use litigation support and trial presentation software on every open litigation file in the office.

Finally, since the implementation of Windows 98 with its dual monitor support, we have each been using two monitors to double our desktop space and to increase the number of programs we can use effectively while multi-tasking.

I can truthfully say that each and every technology mentioned above has improved the way we practice law. The hard part was trying to decide what single item has had the most significant impact. After some reflection, however, I decided to take the challenge and tell the audience that I am convinced that the single most profitable technology we have implemented is the use of scanning/imaging technology, coupled with document management software, to create a paperless office environment.

We started scanning each incoming document using roll-type desktop scanners. While this was often tedious, we knew from the start that this was the way of the future. When high-speed scanners with sheet feeders became available at a reasonable price we jumped on board and have never looked back. Other than junk mail, we scan (but not OCR) everything that comes in for every file. It is easy to do and has made a tremendous boost in our productivity.

What I cannot understand is why so many people look at me incredulously when I tell them this, and then say, "Well I just can't see taking the time to scan everything." They then dismiss the idea as nonsense and continue to practice that same way they have for the last umpteen years.

Up-to-Date

What has this technology done for us? It has meant that on a daily basis, within an hour of the delivery of the mail, every one of my files is completely up to date, and ready to be downloaded and taken on the road without the risk of some document being left lying somewhere in a pile waiting to be filed whenever the staff has time to get to it.

It has meant that no file is ever "missing" and no part of a file is left on an associate's desk or on a table in the library. When a client calls, before I have finished saying hello and asking what's new, I have pulled up the file and have determined from my document management system what has happened recently, and what I have previously reported to the client about the case.

When the time comes for drafting documents I can use my document management system to easily mine the collective work product of the past five years to prevent the need to reinvent the wheel each time a new project comes along.

The time to assemble documents like motions and affidavits is significantly reduced because the staff does not have to go to the paper file to find and photocopy the attachments that are needed and then after making the copies take the time to reconstruct the file. In fact, no time is ever spent reconstructing the file because it is never necessary to tear apart an electronic file like you do a paper file to prepare for tasks like drafting motions with supporting briefs and affidavits, preparing for depositions, assembling witness kits and the like. We simply print a copy of what is needed from the electronic file, or make electronic copies of documents for temporary use which can then be deleted when the task is done.

I don't even have to put up with the grumbling I used to hear about the mess I left in a file when I got back from a deposition when just the day before the file had finally been organized and brought up to date. I could go on and on with examples, but the point is clear -- both attorneys and staff benefit from the use of paperless files.

Quantified?

Can this be quantified? Well I suppose one could attempt to do a controlled study, but I know that those of us who have adopted this method would not be willing to go back to the old ways to make the comparison. I can only offer the anecdotal impressions of the attorneys and staff in my firm. The attorneys have estimated that they save on average at least a half an hour per day of time that in the past was wasted looking for files, tracking down missing information in files, or making call backs because they couldn't put their hands on the information immediately.

The staff thinks they save even more time, with some secretaries believing they pick up between one to two hours of additional productive work each day. Do the math and you can see that the investment is recouped quickly and that thereafter the time allocated to other productive tasks can mean more billable time for the attorneys and staff, and ultimately a reduction in the attorney staff ratio.

I know there will be those who will counter that other systems such as case management are more important. While I acknowledge the great assistance these other systems can provide, the people who tell me that their idea is the most important are generally the ones who do not see the utility of imaging all incoming documentation. I have yet to meet someone who has truly adopted the paperless approach who thinks the other technologies make as big an overall difference.

Bruce A. Olson is the principal of Olson Law Group L.L.C. and ONLAW Trial Technologies, L.L.C., and is based in Minneapolis.