PDF for Lawyers

New ultra-portable Fujitsu scanner

Fujitsu has just announced the ScanSnap S300, a new ultra-compact device weighing less than 3.1 lbs.  The S300 is small enough to fit in a briefcase or laptop bag. The scanner has a 10 page document feeder, and scans at 8 ppm (or 4 ppm if you power it off the USB connection of the computer).  It retails for $295 (currently $276 at Amazon), and works only with Windows XP or Vista (sorry, no Mac compatibility, although a Mac version is supposedly coming soon).

This is a specialty product, and should not be a primary scanner.  For about $100 more you can get the ScanSnap 510, which also has a fairly small footprint, and comes bundled with Acrobat Standard 8.0 (or Acrobat Professional 8.0 if you buy the Mac version).  Only people who do a lot of scanning while traveling are likely to find the S300 scanner useful.  But, if you're fully immersed into the wonderful world of scanning and need something easily transportable then this just might be a useful tool.

Develop a paperless workflow - Part 3

Anticipating this post, a reader asked after reading Part 1, "how do you organize documents once they are scanned? By folders? Using document management software?"  Excellent question.  The question of how to organize digital documents deserves a lot of thought.  Many people intuitively opt for document management software, only to learn later on that the better solution was the 'counter-intuitive' one.

What's wrong with document management systems?
Nothing, per se.  A better question to ask is 'what's right about them?'  But the best question to ask is 'what are the trade-offs with using a DMS as opposed to the native file system built into my computer operating system?'  A DMS is a piece of software that creates an interface (which can in some situations become a barrier) between you and the native files. 

Let's say you scan your documents into PDF format and store them in a folder named for the case they are related to.  Only two things have to be working properly for you to access that file: (1) your computer and its operating system, and (2) the Adobe program (either Reader or Acrobat).  If you have a DMS then that program also has to be working properly.  If it's not, then you can't access your documents.

So is the trade-off of paying for additional software, which requires upgrades and periodic maintenance, worth the marginal benefit of having a 'plug-and-play' organization system?  I think that for solo lawyers and small firms the answer is no.  At some point, of course, a firm has so many attorneys and staff that the trade-off becomes worthwhile.  Personally, I'd resist the temptation to use a firm-wide DMS system and pay for outsourced hosting only in the large cases that require it.  I think there is simply no need to use anything other than the basic file organization system that is inherent in any computer operating system.

Folders?  And how many?
I have tended to use electronic folders that more or less mirror what I would use in a paper-based world.  I have a 'pleadings folder' and a 'discovery folder' and a 'documents folder' and a 'correspondence folder and so on.  I found that this was cumbersome in many cases, but I kept doing it. 

Then one day I was having lunch with a good lawyer friend who is completely paperless, and he told me that he doesn't use folders hardly at all.  He dumps everything into one or two or three sub-folders.  I have experimented with this system and I find that it works great when cases are starting out. After that, it depends on the size of the case and the needs of the case.  But, the good thing is that it's fairly easy to create more folders as you need them and shift your documents around if you have to.

Flexibility is important when dealing with electronic documents.  And that's another reason that I don't like committing to a DMS.  Once those documents are organized into a DMS there is no easy way to reorganize them. 

File-naming convention is important
If you're going to use the native operating system to organize your electronic files, then the naming convention you adopt will make a big difference.  Let's use correspondence as the first example.  With correspondence you want to organize it chronologically, right?  So all you have to do is name the files starting with a 4 digit year, then 2 digit month and then 2 digit date, followed by a brief description.

Example: 2007_01_09 Svenson ltr to Abercrombie

I could substitute a dash for the underscore, but whichever approach I use it should be uniform in all cases.  In other words, how you store the files isn't as important as what you name them.  And once you settle on a convention you'll be stuck with it.  It bears repeating, the key is to make it so you can look in a folder and find all your correspondence neatly sorted by date.

My approach is to make the brief description of correspondence have sender first, then type of correspondence (e.g. ltr, email, fax), and then recipient.  I don't think it matters much if you spell out the complete last name of the sender/recipient.  What matters is that there is enough information for someone to find what they're looking for in most cases.  If you adopt a practice of OCR'ing your electronic documents you'll be able to find them based on what's in them in addition to what they're named.

For pleadings I use the convention of naming by order of filing and then a description.

Example: Doc 001 Complaint, Doc 002 Summons, Doc 003 Return on Summons, Doc 004 Req for Time to respond, etc.

In federal courts, the docket clerks designate a document with a document number so my practice is to match my number to theirs.  And the nice thing about doing this is that, if I look in the folder and see that a document number is missing, then I know that I'm missing a pleading I should have.  I know that not all states stamp pleadings with a document number, but I figure that if the federal courts do it then that will be the predominant practice (and most states will eventually adopt it).

As for naming other types of documents, you can be flexible. I would put discovery documents in a separate folder from the general file correspondence.  As I said, you can adapt to your own purpose and that's the nice thing about using the basic file system of your computer instead of a DMS.

New Canon Scanners

Canon has announced two new Workgroup scanners. The DR-2010C scans in color or black and white at speeds of up to 20 pages per minute and retails for $795.  The DR-2501C scans at 25 ppm and retails for $895.  More information about the entire Canon line of workgroup scanners is available here.

Develop a paperless workflow - Part 2

Once you've decided to create a paperless environment, there are a couple of things to consider.  First, you will not likely eliminate all paper from your environment.  The goal (at least initially) is simply to capture all paper, incoming or outgoing, and convert it to a digital form.  This is very important, and it bears repeating.  You must capture all (not just some) incoming and outgoing (yes, outgoing too!) paper.  The best time to capture the paper is when it first comes in, or when it is first being sent out.

If you work in an office with other lawyers (who may not be as inclined as you to make the switch to a paperless world) then it's important to start with a workflow model that at least captures everything into a digital form.  Later on, as the other lawyers buy-in to the digital workflow model it will be easier for them to grasp the benefits of being digital if most of their stuff has already been digitized.

Also, make sure that you have sufficient printing capacity to print out large digital files that you want to work with in paper format.  Eventually, you'll learn to work with digital files and become less reliant on paper.  But, at first, you may find yourself wanting to work with paper.  If you can't output it quickly then your tendency will be to retreat back into the analog world. 

The key to making the switch to digital is to make the firm commitment to capture all incoming and outgoing paper.  All of it.  No exceptions. Not one.

If you can do this then you'll will have achieved escape velocity, and will have slipped the surly (and insidious) bonds of paper.  And soon you will find yourself in a weightless and stress-free atmosphere, wondering why you didn't make this change long ago.

Oh, and did I mention that you have to capture all of the paper?

Develop a paperless workflow - How to do it.

The problem with making the transition to a paperless world is not lack of technology.  Scanners are cheap and so is the software that is needed to use them.  The problem is moving from the familiar world of paper to an unfamiliar one, devoid of paper.  What people need most is a blueprint for paperless workflow.

First, let me reassure those who believe that they could never feel comfortable making a sudden shift to a world completely devoid of paper.  I still use paper, although not very much.  The point isn't to eliminate all paper right off the bat, but rather to develop a system that doesn't depend on paper.  In the next few posts we'll cover the strategies for doing this.  But, for now let's begin with what happens when you scan a document.

After you run the document through your scanner you'll want to name the document and store it somewhere.  We'll address this next time, but for now the question is: what do you do with the piece of paper that you have scanned after you have properly saved it to your computer?

Generally speaking, I throw the paper away since the best thing about scanning is that it eliminates the need to keep the paper (your digital file will be backed up so there is much less fear of losing the electronic version than the paper version).  But, at first, you may incline towards keeping the paper.  Perhaps the paper has information you need to access for a call you're about to make, and it's easier to have it handy in paper form while you make the call.  Maybe you're just hesitant to get rid of the paper for the moment.  Fine.  But you'll need to do at least one thing.

Write something on the paper you just scanned indicating you've already scanned it.  That way, you'll know that it's in your electronic system and you don't need to scan it again.  Even if you think you'll remember that you scanned it, you should adopt this practice because if you work with other people you'll need a system that lets everyone know the paper was scanned.  So what do you write?

One option is to simply write "scanned" on the top right corner.  Another option is to write the file name of the document --in case you need to retrieve the electronic version quickly for some reason.  For example, you might decide to email the document to someone after your phone call and having the document name will let you quickly access the electronic version of the document.  In any case, adopt a system that (1) eliminates scanned paper, or (2) flags the paper as having been scanned, including any other information that might be useful while the paper is still being used.

And remember to toss the paper as soon as you don't need it.  If you don't start purging paper from your desk you'll never realize the full benefits of scanning.  After a few weeks you'll start to notice little things about how you used to deal with paper.  Mostly, you'll learn that people hoard too much paper, keeping it close by in case they need to access information.  Soon you'll notice that having too much paper around you makes it harder to find information, not easier.  The less paper you have around you the less stress you'll feel, especially once you learn to trust the paperless system.

Fujitsu ScanSnap now comes with Acrobat 8.0 Professional

If you own a Mac and want to buy the Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner, you are very fortunate.  Apparently, as this Macworld article mentions, the Fujitsu S510M comes bundled with Acrobat 8.0 Professional.  The Windows version only comes with Acrobat 8.0 Standard.  You can get the scanner here for $399.00 (after $50 rebate).  The retain value of Acrobat Professional alone is about $400, which means you essentially get the scanner for free.  Or the software.  Or both at half price.

Anyway you slice it, it's an amazing deal.  For Mac-users at least.

Scanning is joyful

Many thanks to young Alex McGillvary, who says he was inspired by us to start his home scanning project (link is dead now for some reason) .  See, people, it can be done!  It just takes commitment (and the right tools).  So what are you waiting for?

Scanning & OCR

Rick Borstein, who runs the Acrobat for Legal Professionals blog, has a great article on scanning and OCR with Acrobat 8.  The article appears at the equally wonderful LLRX.com site (run by Sabrina Pacifici).  Rick is extremely knowledgeable and his article is a must-read if you are interested in scanning.

Panasonic KV-S1025C scanner

Click here to read an article about the $1,100 the Panasonic KV-S1025C Duplex Color Workgroup Scanner. It can scan two-sided color, grayscale and monochrome documents in one pass and output the data as a single TIFF, PDF, JPEG or bitmap image.  The scanner has an automatic document feeder and can 26 pages per minute (ppm) at 200 dpi resolution. The scanner measures 12.5 inches wide, 7.6 inches deep and 6.8 inches high and weighs less than 9 pounds, so it has a nice compact form factor. 

It was supposedly designed to deal with Government regulations such as the Patriot Act, HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley which require that businesses capture data from documents and ID cards.  Readind the specs, it sounds like it would be ideal for law firms too.

Here is another blurb about the scanner.  This site is offering the scanner for under $800, as is this site.  I'm not recommending this scanner since I haven't tried it, but if anyone has please leave comments below. 

Portable scanners -- Easy to use scanners

I recently got a Fujitsu ScanSnap for my Apple Powerbook laptop, and I have to say I'm completely amazed at how quick and easy it is.  It scans directly to Adobe Acrobat, and comes bundled with Acrobat Standard, which is a $300 value (the product description at Amazon doesn't always reveal this, but check the comments and you'll see one that describes the bundling; mine came with Acrobat Standard 7.0).  The ScanSnap is available from Amazon for under $450.  It's small and portable and takes no time to set up.  It works with Windows computers and Macs, but you need the drivers appropriate to your computer operating system --so be sure to order the right one.

Apparently, scanner portability is all the rage, at least if this story from India is any indication.  So, if you've been thinking about getting a small, easy to use scanner, then now's the time.

The perfect scanner - more thoughts

At LegalTech there was a lot of information about great scanners.  One scanner that I was excited about was the Fujitsu ScanSnap, which is supposed to go for about $500 bundled with Acrobat Standard 7.0.  It's got a small footprint and supposedly scans at about 15 pages per minute.  I heard that there getting drivers for the Mac is dicey, but the Fujitsu rep told me they would be out by September or so. 

I was thinking the Fujitsu would be a good scanner to recommend (and it may well be) but then a knowledgeable tech consultant told me about The Xerox Documate 252.  Actually, he raved about it.  The Xerox 252 is a TWAIN-compliant sheet fed scanner with a USB 2.0 connection.  It can handle 25 pages per minute, or 50 in duplex mode (i.e. scanning both sides of a double-sided document).  It's going for about $850 at Amazon.com right now, and there is a great review on the product page from someone who raves that this scanner "changed his life."  According to the reviewer the scanner works well with both Macs and PCs.

Seeking the Perfect Scanner

Link: Seeking the Perfect Scanner.

Some of the most-asked questions here at PDF for Lawyers involve scanning paper documents. PDFzone has an interesting article on one fellow's search for a sheet-fed duplex (i.e., it scans two-sided documents) scanner that will capture images directly to PDF.  Also included in the article is a link to another article about software that scans directly to PDF.

~~ Dave