Why should you shift to a paperless law practice? And what's the best way to do so? This 1 hour presentation provides the roadmap, from an attorney who started his journey in the year 2000. Ernie Svenson has helped hundreds of lawyers make the transition, and he can help you too.

1. Intro to PaperlessProcess information faster, with less effort

2. Paperlesssince 2005

3. Used to be

4. – Technology was expensive/complicated
– Process was uncertain/untested
Why?

5. Becoming Paperless
(now at least)

6. – Technology is cheap & pretty easy
– Processes have been created & tried
Today
– But, one thing stands in the way…

7. – Getting the right technology
– Developing sound processes
– (that other thing)
We’ll Cover

8. “paperless”Define

10. 1. Completely devoid of paper
2. Devoid of paper as much as possible
3. All key information stored in digital
form
4. Ability to work on documents
anywhere, anytime
Four Definitions

11. Benefits

12. – cheaper storage
– no lost originals
– easier to copy (cheaper too)
– easier to transmit (cheaper)
– easier to search
– backup & security easier/cheaper
Benefits

13. 2,000
200,000

14. 25 lbs
1 Ton?

15. 80% of what’s filed
never gets looked
at again.
–The Leader-Post

16. 1 hr a day
looking for
missing info.
–The Wall St. Journal

18. Smith Contract

19. Backup

21. – harder to re-order pages
– not as easy to browse
– paper is easier to read
Problems?

22. Why change?

23. Information
processing

24. Inform
Organize
Arrange
Facts
Research
Gather
Discover
Inspire
Story

25. Information Processing Factoid
Year Task Time
2003
2010
Genome Sequencing 10 yrs
Genome Sequencing
(if done today)
1 week

26. Bad info handling
may cause death

29. ‘O’ Ring Problems
Flight Date Temp °F Erosion Blow-by Damage Index
1 Apr. 1981 66° 0
2 Nov. 1981 70° 1 4
3 Mar. 1982 69° 0
5 Nov. 1982 68° 0
6 Apr. 1983 67° 0
41-B Feb. 1984 57° 1 4
41-C Apr. 1984 63° 1 2
51-A Nov. 1984 67° 0
51-C Jan. 1985 53° 3 2 11
51-D Apr. 1985 67° 0
61-C Jan. 1986 58° 1 4

30. ‘O’ Ring Problems
Flight Date Temp °F Erosion Blow-by Damage Index
2 Nov. 1981 70° 1 4
3 Mar. 1982 69° 0
5 Nov. 1982 68° 0
6 Apr. 1983 67° 0
51-A Nov. 1984 67° 0
51-D Apr. 1985 67° 0
1 Apr. 1981 66° 0
41-C Apr. 1984 63° 1 2
61-C Jan. 1986 58° 1 4
41-B Feb. 1984 57° 1 4
51-C Jan. 1985 53° 3 2 11

31. ‘O’ Ring Problems
0
3
6
9
12
15
70° 69° 68° 67° 66° 63° 58° 57° 53°
Erosion
Damage
Temp °F

32. “paperless”Become

33. Law Firm
1. Organize our stuff
2. Organize client stuff

34. Stuff
Client files
Case docs
E-mails
Web-pages
& other stuff

35. 1. Keep it digital
1.(avoid printing)
2. Make it digital
Principles

36. Inputs
E-mail
Appts
Faxes
Letters
Transcripts

37. Outputs
E-mail
Faxes
Letters

38. Principles in practice
(or how to transition to a
paperless practice)

39. Step 1

40. Avoid printing
emails

41. of emails are never printed out
67%

42. Friends don’t let friends
print out emails

43. Create new
engagement letter

44. Step 2

45. Avoid printing
altogether

46. Mr. Rogers:
May 8, 2008
Enclosed please find lots of
paper. I hope that you enjoy sifting
through these documents as much
I have.
Best wishes,
Ernest Svenson
123 Walnut St., Suite 1001, New Orleans, LA 70118
Svenson Law Firm LLC

47. New form letter

48. Dear NAME:
May 8, 2008
Best wishes,
Ernest Svenson
123 Walnut St., Suite 1001, New Orleans, LA 70118
Svenson Law Firm LLC
Mr. Rogers:
Enclosed please find lots of
paper. I hope that you enjoy sifting
through these documents as much
I have.
File
Save as PDFSend E-mail

49. How to create?
1. Scan in signature
2. Erase background
3. Import to Word, Acrobat

50. Web Fax

51. $9
$10
$17
Send2Fax
MyFax
eFax
Cost/monthService

52. Receive web fax
Email From Subject Date
jbac Crosby case
rsamson Miller matter
03/01/08
03/01/08
pbjelly Toasty bread issue
jgotti Criminal case
jford Auto case
02/28/08
02/27/08
02/26/08

53. New Message
To:
Cc:
Subject:
15043240453@myfax.com
Attach: name of file

54. Step 3

55. Make digital

56. Scanner
- PPM
- Duplex
- Deskew
- OCR

57. Fujitsu ScanSnap
$394 @ Amazon
Model S1500
Model S1500M

58. Paper Shredder
Cost: $63
Model:Fellows

59. Paper Shredder
Cost: Free:
(from Pound)
Model:Terrier

60. Shredder in Action

61. PDFs
“portable document format”
= ‘digital paper’
widespread use

62. PC vs. Mac

63. Standard
Professional
Adobe Acrobat

64. Acrobat X
Standard Professional
OCR
Bates-stamp
Redaction
Compare PDFs

65. Step 4

66. File Organization

67. Moving Parts
?????
Applications Op Sys

68. DMS
v.
Folders

69. Special software
Folder structure
File naming system
DMS req’s

70. DMS Docs
2008_02_13
2008_02_12
2008_02_10
2008_02_09
2008_02_08
2008_02_06
2008_02_05
2008_02_04

71. 2008_02_13
2008_02_13_15_49_51
2008_02_13_14_28_31
2008_02_13_10_19_45
2008_02_13_09_59_01
2008_02_13_02_07_23
2008_02_13_01_59_19
2008_02_13_01_45_01
2008_02_13_01_39_45

72. Your
folders

73. Crown v. Royal
01 Pleadings
02 Correspondence
03 Documents
04 Word Processing
05 Depositions
06 Legal Research
07 Attorney Notes
08 Trial Documents

74. Your
file names

75. 01 Pleadings
2009_01_01 Complaint
2009_01_08 Summons
2009_02_15 Return
2009_03_02 Extension req
2009_04_02 Answer
2009_07_17 Motion SJ Def
2009_08_01 Opp by Plntf
2009_10_19 Order grantng

76. 02 Correspondence
2008_02_13 EES ltr K Smith
2008_02_01 K Smith email EES
2008_01_04 Thompson fax EES
2007_12_14 Chisom ltr EES
2007_11_11 Ward fax Counsel
2007_10_16 EES ltr Marion
2007_09_23 EES ltr Feinberg
2007_08_08 Mangione ltr EES

77. Folder
File name
Whole drive
Finding

78. Step 0

79. The only reliable backup
is an offsite backup

80. Web-based options
– Carbonite.com
– CrashPlan.com
– Dropbox.com
– Sugarsync.com{
{

81. Step −1

82. Prepare for paperless
– RAM (crucial.com)
– Dual monitors
– Email proficiency

83. Oh, and that 3rd thing?
– breaking a habit is hard
– start by yourself
– keep up your tech skills

84. Why change?

85. Why change?
– Do better for clients
– Enable more work flexibility
– Lower stress & save money

86. How to change?
– Scan only new cases
– Don’t scan old files
– Scan old files only when you
reach point where only few left

88. 101