Managing an electronic case file

I've talked to a lot of lawyers recently about disaster recovery (aka 'business continuity') issues.  As a survivor of the Katrina debacle I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to 'disaster proof' my practice.  The answer is pretty easy: (1) moblize your practice, and (2) scan all of your paperwork as it comes in or goes out.

By 'mobilize your practice' I mean, wherever possible, act like a mobile lawyer.  If you travel a lot, or work in two places often, then this will be something you're inclined to do.  If you tend to work only from you office then you'll have less motivation to 'become mobile.'  If a hurricane, earthquake, fire or terrorist attack destroys your office and all of its contents then you'll wish you'd been more motivated.  Katrina displaced 9,000 lawyers from the New Orleans area, so if you need to find some lawyers who were previously unmotivated (to their detriment) feel free to talk to any of them.

If you have a laptop computer as your primary workstation and are able to access the internet from any Wi-Fi hotspot you're well on your way to the promised land.  But, you aren't going to be able to access your client files from the Internet, not unless you scanned them and uploaded them.  Uploading them to the internet is unrealistic, but scanning them is not.  The problem for many lawyers is, not so much the scanning, but visualizing how the 'paperless file organization' system will work.  I recently gave a talk on this and created this paper that discusses how to organize your electronic case file  (from the perspective of a litigator, but transactional lawyers can easily modify the tips to suit their approach).  Hope it helps.

---Ernest

Comments

[Dave Stratton]

Ernie, great post and a great handout. Thankyou!

Have you automated the process of setting up and labeling all those subfolders? If so, how do you do it?

[Ernie]

Yes, I created a blank folder with all of those folders and subfolders. When I open a new file I just create a folder with the new file name and then go to the blank folder and copy all the 1st level folders (which, of course, will copy the sub-folders) and then I paste that into the new case folder.

[Jason Wagner]

I find the post very interesting and would like to implement it. However, I'm having some trouble accessing the PDF.

[Stewart Forbes]

I am a completely electronically challenged. Would you be kind enough to compile a list of the hard and softare needed to go completely paperless.

Thank you,
Stewart

[Becky Goodwin, Enterprise Content Management Expert]

Ernie,
I am an Enterprise Content Management Expert and one who pioneered "the paperless office in my state's local DSS system. You are describing the "paperless" office in the most primitive way imaginable by suggesting that it is basically organizing folders inside of folders on a pc or laptop. A true "document managing system" not only allows you to do the same task that you do with paper documents, as well as enhances the workflow, eliminates redundancy, captures reporting data, alerts the user to incomplete tasks, non-compliance, generates an audit report, tracks processes and procedures, automates the business intelligence and much much more beyond what I can explain in this brief feedback. As for judges using the system, I have found that they are welcoming such a filing system in the court room as it saves them time, money and storage. Also, a TRUE "electronic filing system" can be accessed anywhere in the world if set up to do so. Even if your PC or laptop burns, the data is still secure as you can run from a local or hosted server. If you are promoting the "organization" of folders on an office pc or laptop, then you have a good system in place. But if promoting "the paperless office" defined as Electronic Content/Data/Document management systems that automates your daily work process and cuts cost of operation, you may want to brush up on the latest technology offered to the legal, medical, corporate and government offices. There is a vast difference from your interpretation of "the paperless office" as the "office of the future".