The Datamax Thinking Blog

So, as you stand at the copier making five versions of the same document so everyone who needs a copy can have one, here are some arguments for you to use to digitize and automate your law firm.

Most of us have been to some sort of live event – concert, play, a game, or a race – we don’t often think about it but we know that a ton of preparation and behind the scenes work went into making that event run smoothly.

That’s the importance of your job as an office manager – keeping the firm operational and running smoothly. When you’re sorting through invoices, ensuring lawyers have all the information they need, and dealing with all the details and tasks in between, having to deal with manual processes is the last thing you need.

Everyone wants great service.

Satisfying customers is important in every industry – and is a top priority for law firms. When your business relies on documents – especially printed documents – you can’t afford to have your copiers idle. When they break, you need them fixed quickly before your goal of delivering excellent customer service suffers.

Just as your customers understand the old saying “time is money,” so do you (and everyone else in your office) – and so do we. 

That’s why having a partner that can respond and resolve issues quickly (and accurately) is so important.

Identifying less-explored operational costs within a business can be difficult – the cost of enterprise printing is just one such challenge.

In document-intensive industries such as legal, technology can do a lot of heavy lifting for you. Technology can’t solve challenges alone – you have to understand your business processes and then be sure to select the right technology tool you’re your needs. Done correctly, technology can automate tasks – giving you time back in your day to focus on the 101 tasks you juggle.

Here’s a list of common business challenges – and potential solutions to those challenges – that can make a difference in your office.

Depending on the type of business (and whether it’s for internal or external customers), the specifics of cost recovery vary.

If you aren’t using print tracking and managed print services to simplify cost recovery in your law firm, you could be making cost recovery harder than it needs to be.

You need to recoup expenses taken on behalf of clients. Tracking those expenses can be time consuming.

Are you ready for a simple way to integrate hard-copy legal documents into a document management system (i.e. like Worldox DMS, of course)?

You can extend the value of your multifunction copier to your business by using it to remove paper from your office. Being able to access digital versions of case matters is a big deal in the legal industry – it allows you to spend more time serving clients and less time shuffling papers.

And, as an added bonus: No more hauling heavy stacks of paper around the office – now you can save that workout for the gym!

When writing these posts, I usually make it a point not to focus on a specific product. However, today is an exception.

Information needs to be secured REGARDLESS of format. The best part? With a good plan, you can secure both digital and paper documents.

61% of data breaches within companies of less than 500 employees involve paper records.*

And now you’re probably counting or trying to calculate how many employees are in the office right now (and thinking about the amount of paper).

Just think about this for second: what if your law firm was on the news? Not because you won a high profile case, but because the firm had a data breach. Even worse, think about if that data breach was the result of something as simple as one of the lawyers accidentally leaving their briefcase at Starbucks (a briefcase containing two legal pads with client information written on them inside) or mistakenly throwing old case files away in the dumpster.

That last thing that should be on your plate is the backbone of your document production – your printers/copiers – when they need to be serviced.

Your title may be office manager, but most days you’re more like a triage doctor, deciphering and prioritizing what needs to be done first. And, you also have the “fun” task of dealing with (some) lawyers’ oversized egos. This is what makes you the glue holding your law firm’s practice together from behind-the-scenes.

You don’t have time to handle everything. You’re there early. You stay late. You shouldn’t have to juggle it ALL.

Though each one of the security concerns bulleted above is important, there are still a few other information security issues that copiers can help with.

The biggest concern for legal IT departments is no longer email management.

“Whew!” is what’s going through your mind right?

Don’t get too excited. Now the number 1 concern is . . . security management.*

For the majority of business records, the legality of digital document images as legally valid substitutes for the originals has been settled for years.

Research* indicates that “Legal” is most resistant of any department to paper-free work processes.

How many paper documents are in your office that you don’t really need? If you do need all of those documents, how much are you spending for file storage off-site? Are rooms filled with filing cabinets of old cases (and are those rooms and those documents physically secured?).

You can – legally – get rid of that paper. Better yet, paperless (or at least less paper) processes are faster, more efficient, and have solid ROI. So remove that paper and turn office space previously occupied by paper into something useful – another office for a partner, a break room for employees to take a breather, a client meeting room, lobby or whatever else you need.

Read on for tips on how to get this done.

If you take advantage of document management software for productivity – and use your copiers as the beginning of an automated document process – you’ll add to your bottom line.

For 19 months from 1860 to 1861 the Pony Express was the fastest way to move information from coast to coast. Leaving from St. Joseph, MO or from Sacramento, CA; the relays of riders could make the 2,000 mile trip in 9 to 12 days.

Couriers are important. Wells Fargo began as a courier service, transporting packages and gold (remember all those stagecoach robberies in those old Westerns?).