As I enter the training area set up at this small law firm, the trepidation in the air is palpable as the attendees know what I’m about to suggest. Give up paper? How can it be? Not use “PRINT” as the known and comfortable stamp of document completion? Say it isn’t so!
But yes, this is what I’m about to suggest, and everyone in the training room knows it. I enter the room. The room gets quiet except for a small giggle of nervousness coming from the lead legal assistant. Although the room is carpeted, you can still hear my shoes make a solid clicking noise as I boldly walk into the room, ready to throw caution to the wind and utter those two words that I know will bring out fear among the staff in the room.
I begin my introduction, advising the room that I, too, at one time in my life, worked in a law firm and cherished the printed document. I open my lips, take in one bold breath of air, and then say the words that everyone in the room is dreading: “Less paper will make you more productive and save this firm money.” There, it’s been said, and the staff realizes that hearing those words wasn’t so bad. Now to get them to BELIEVE those words.
I use respected resources to prove my hypothesis such as this from the American Bar Association: “[P]aper brings with it a number of disadvantages: the expense of paper, ink and file storage; delays associated with finding and filing documents; and various problems with misfiling, versioning, and poor organization.”
I remind them that less paper includes better management of documents. Storing the electronic document is one thing. Finding the content later requires software that can search content and search it quickly and accurately. Such software is much more reliable and less expensive than two paralegals and a legal assistant hunting for a key document or exhibit that was misplaced or misfiled.
Then I turn and speak to the firm leadership and point out key facts in the quest for less paper:
- reduction of costs, including printing supplies, copier supplies, paper, postage, and more
- inexpensive and easily searchable document storage
- improved client communication and service
- increased security—paper can be torn, burned, or destroyed by water; PDFs cannot
The cost of the paper footprint in the office (i.e., how much office space is taken up by the storage of paper) is almost ridiculous compared to the cost of storing digital content.
I remind the group that many questioned the viability of e-mail a mere 15 years ago. I challenged them to find two lawyers within a one-mile radius in any city who, today, do not gain great benefit from using e-mail. In fact, I bet that, in 2015, lawyers rely more on e-mail than letter writing or “snail mail.”
Embracing the benefit of printing to PDF, mastering the art of PDF manipulation, and putting a plethora of knowledge available at your fingertips is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg in the paperless quest. After only two hours of “less paper” training concentrating specifically on PDF skills, search skills, and document management, the group heads back to their desks with great enthusiasm. I did my job. I can only hope they use the skills we reviewed and reap the benefits of their new “less paper” world. If they do, they truly will be more productive and less apt to lose a document.
Fear not lawyers, paralegals, legal assistants, and staff: you too, can become a less-paper-more-productive law firm. There is no day like today to get started. Here are some resources to get you started on the quest: