PDF for Lawyers

iPhone 3Gs as a portable scanner that creates PDFs

For years I've toyed with the idea of getting a portable document scanner like the Fujitsu S300 for those few times when I'm in court and need to copy a few pages of a case record.  The local state court here in New Orleans charges $1.00 per page, which is of course ridiculous.  But the real hassle is that it takes an incredibly long time to get the copies made, and then pay for them.  Hence my motivation to find a way to scan a few pages here and there.

The problems with using the Fujitsu are: (1) it costs $240, which means I'd have to do a lot of scanning to justify it, and (2) it has to be hooked to a computer, which means I'd be lugging a lot of hardware just to do a few scans.  And that is why I've never been able to justify buying that scanner.

Now, thanks to the improved camera on the latest iPhone, there is another option that is perfectly acceptable, and costs only $10.  I've been testing an application called DocScanner, and I now report that it does a perfectly acceptable job of creating PDF images using the iPhone 3Gs. And let me emphasize that I am not suggesting that it would do as well with the iPhone 3G, because I think you need the focusing ability of the new phone to get acceptable images.  Here is an example of a receipt that I was able to 'scan' using the application. As you can see it's very good quality:

DocScanner lets you create multi-page PDFs simply by continuing to take pictures.  Once you're done you can choose to save the resulting PDF to your iPhone, or you can email it to yourself or anyone in your address book.

The process of creating the PDF can be slightly tricky the first few times you do it, but once you get the hang of it you can do it without much hassle.  The images as displayed on the iPhone seem low quality, but when you email them to yourself and examine them on a full computer screen the quality is usually quite impressive.  

Obviously, the trick is to get a good photo, which means having plenty of light and also holding the camera steady while you take the picture.  In that vein I might suggest that you also try these two applications: iFlashReady (which adds light to a dark image), and NightCamera (which is a sort of self-timer for the iPhone that delays taking the picture until your hands are most steady). So, if you use these applications to take pictures, how do you get them into DocScanner?  Easy. DocScanner lets you use images from your Cameral Roll.  So you'd just take the pictures of the pages you want to have, then apply the light adjustment (if needed) and then use DocScanner to convert them to PDFs which you can then join together into a multipage PDF that can be emailed or saved.

So, if you've been looking for a good way to create PDF scans of a few pages here and there you may have the solution you're looking for.  If you own an iPhone 3Gs, that is.  As I said, I don't think it will work very well with the older iPhones.  And I wouldn't try to do more than a few pages with it because I think it would get kind of frustrating.  For small jobs like receipts and expense reports, though, it's perfect!

Digitize your letterhead; simplify your life

When I started my solo practice 3 years ago I faced the usual smorgasbord of choices, among them was the question of law firm stationery.  Having lived through the disruption of Katrina, I had decided that everything I did from then forward would be as simple and efficient as possible.  The nomadic life I lived after Katrina caused me to become hyper-aware about how many office procedures are relics of the industrial era.  Office stationery is one of those relics.

Pre-printed letterhead was necessary before high-quality laser printers became affordable and widely used.  Any small business is going to have a laser printer, probably even one that prints in color.  Even most ink-jet printers are capable of printing high-quality text, which most people would not regard as cheap or unprofessional.

True, having your letterhead appear on high-quality stock paper is nice. But is it worth the trade-off in decreased inefficiency?  If you want to move towards a paperless workflow you need to consider all of the small inefficiency leaks.  Pre-printed letterhead is a systemic issue, and one that creates many bottlenecks.  And, of course, it also adds cost.

Think about it.  If you have pre-printed letterhead, then you need to have a special tray in every printer that will be used to print outgoing letters. Or, worse, you'll have to insert the letterhead before each print job that requires it.  This means that you'll have mistakes that will require reprinting, or you'll have problems when the printer runs out of letterhead paper.

If you digitize your letterhead then you dispense with the need for having 'special paper' as well as the need to make sure that each printer is stocked with that special paper.  All you'd have to do is call up the form document that has your 'letterhead' already included and then create your letter and print it out.  If you are sending the letter by email as a PDF then you don't need pre-printed letterhead anyway. And, frankly, the digital letterhead will probably look a lot better in PDF form.

So, you're now convinced that you need to digitize your letterhead.  How do you do it?  

Creating your digital letterhead is as easy as using your word processor to layout a document with header and footer information that reflects something similar to what your current letterhead looks like.  If you don't know enough about word processing to do this then find someone in your office who does.  The process might take an hour or so the first time; you'll get caught up in tinkering and tweaking things, which is fine.  But in the end, no matter how long it takes, you'll have a great looking letterhead that is stored digitally in your computer.  

You'll be free of the hassle of having to order, stock and re-provision special letterhead.  You'll save time and money, and increase the efficiency of your practice in a small, but very important, way.  Remember, we're now living in the information age, not the industrial age.

Twitter roundup: on becoming paperless

Here are some of the interesting tidbits that I posted in the Twitter page during the past week.  You can find all the Twitter posts from the PDF for Lawyers twitter site.

• How to move towards 'the paperless life'
  
• Docusign for all my electronic signature needs! Check it out!" (via @AlessandroFra)  
• Zumbox -paperless online mailbox for every street address in the US, incl. businesses (via @msquihuis)  
• Raleigh teacher goes paperless in wireless world. (via @wral) 
• Good state-by-state run down of ethics opinions on metadata mining: http://is.gd/nRD4 (via the ABA) 
• You need a digital signature, but don't know how to make one? Here's the scoop: http://is.gd/ctbl  

Get up to the minute tips on becoming paperless

As I mentioned last week, I've created a Twitter page for this blog.  Twitter is a great way to capture and distribute small chunks of information quickly.  It's easy for me to scan the Internet for interesting information about 'the paperless office' and then post it to Twitter.  So, if you want to check out these blurbs just visit this page.  Or if you're already on Twitter, just follow this site and you'll get the feeds as the come out. 

Also, I updated the main page of this weblog to include the latest twitter feeds.  Just look in the top left part of the page and you'll see them, along with a link to our special twitter page (where you can review all the twitter posts).

How to (successfully) switch to a paperless practice

In the three years that I've been practicing as a solo lawyer I have been completely paperless. Before that, when I worked in a large firm, I kept the files that I worked on by myself in a completely paperless form. So, when I hear people say that it's impossible to be completely paperless I know that's not true. In addition to my own personal experience, I know several lawyers who have completely paperless law practices.

It's true that some lawyers prefer not to become completely paperless (for various reasons). But, it's not because it would be extremely difficult; it's simply a matter of choice. What seems to be difficult, for many lawyers, is making the first step toward becoming paperless. Typically, a lawyer will buy a scanner, tinker with it, but then hit a small snag and get completely derailed.

Why is that? From my experience, there are a few common problems—none of which are hard to solve or expensive.

First, it's important to have a strong commitment. But sometimes commitment isn't enough.  For example, if the attorney is not technically skilled he or she can quickly run into small problems that seem insurmountable.  Getting the right scanner can help you avoid most of the technical snafus that plague most people.  That's why I always recommend that people start out by buying the Fujitsu ScanSnap 510  (If you have a Mac get the 510M version).

You may be tempted to get a different model, or you may say "well, I already have a very high speed office scanner/copier." Believe it or not, these are the statements that I often hear from those who have failed to make the transition. The Fujitsu ScanSnap has the highest rate of success because it's easy to use and easy to set up. Even so, it can be daunting for a beginner to learn how to set up the ScanSnap, and also to develop a basic scanning workflow.

So, my advice to people who want to start scanning is ALWAYS to: (1) get a Fujitsu Snap 510, and (2) hire someone to help you set it up and teach you how to use it.  The first step is easy (even though many people try to improvise away from it).  The second step, though, is the really important one.  Because, even folks who buy the ScanSnap sometimes hit snags.  

The first snags are about how to set the scanner up.

For example, what resolution setting should you be scanning at? Should you scan everything in color, or should you let the scanner decide whether to scanning color or black-and-white? Or should you force the scanner to always scan in black and white? [ANSWER: usually, you should scan to black-and-white]

Once you get all the settings tweaked properly, then you face the issue of adopting a new workflow. This is another delicate turning point, which can easily lead to failure. I'll discuss this issue next time, but for now let's review the two key points.

1.  You need an easy to use scanner it's also easy to set up. You need the Fujitsu ScanSnap (If you have a Mac get the 510M version).  You need this even if you have a scanner already—unless you are tech-savvy and highly motivated. 
2.  If you are not technically skilled and motivated, then you will need somebody to help you set up the scanner and learn how to use it. (You will also need someone to coach you on how to develop a digital workflow, which is something I'll talk about in the next post).  

  Who can you hire to help you?  Well, I can't say unless you live in New Orleans.  If you live here then I'd recommend Becky Diamante.  She has helped many small businesses and law firms become paperless.  She's not only good at setting up the scanner but also very good at getting people comfortable with using it (in most small businesses this is more important than setting up the scanner) 

Becoming paperless isn't hard and it isn't even expensive. But you probably do need some help.  You may not need help, but if you do then don't be afraid to get it.  It might mean the difference between success and failure.

Cheap, reliable offsite backup

Backing up your digital data is critical, but sadly many people aren't doing it.  It used to be semi-exusable not to backup your data (too hard to figure out, too expensive, my dog ate my homework), but not anymore.  What if you could backup all the key data on your computer for $50?  And what if the backup was automatically pushed 'offsite' so that your data wouldn't be vulnerable to a fire in your office?

Guess what?  Your prayers have been answered. Carbonite is only $49.95/year per computer no matter how much you need to back up. No hidden fees. No limits on backup storage capacity. You can try it free for 15 days (without even having to provide a credit card).  

So, if you aren't backing up your computer get thee to Carbonite right away.

First hand account of going paperless in a law firm

I've helped many people get over the hump in going paperless, and what I've learned is that the hump isn't that big.  But it seems like it to people when they first approach it.  If you believe that going paperless is hard, then read this first hand account of a law firm that did it.  I can't agree enough with one point that is made in the article: there is very little cost associated with going paperless.  In most cases, the cost is almost zero.

I also agree that the first step is to start getting your faxes delivered electronically.  No big expense there either.

Web-based fax services compared

FaxCompare.com is a great site if you want to compare the costs of various web-based fax services. I had subscribed to eFax up until recently, but switched to MyFax to save money. Both eFax and MyFax allow you to receive faxes as PDF attachments to emails, which is vastly superior to the traditional fax machine.  They say that competition is good, and in the web-based fax arena there appears to be a lot of it.

Mobile scanning

Fujitsu has dominated the scanning market in recent years, primarily with the introduction of its very popular ScanSnap model. The latest ScanSnap version is the S510 (for Windows users), or the S510m (for Mac users). The S510 models come bundled with Adobe Acrobat software valued at about $200. The S510 has a small footprint, is lightweight, and costs about $400.

However, it's not something that you are likely to toss in your backpack or briefcase. But, you say, why would I want to take my scanner with me? Good question.

You might want to take a scanner with you if you were going to a deposition and you knew that from time to time documents might be offered as exhibits. If you had a scanner you could quickly scan the documents instead of having to bring them back to your office to scan later. If you use PDFs a lot then you'd probably also appreciate having the ability to immediately start annotating deposition exhibits.

Another example of where you might want to use a mobile scanner is if you go to court to look at records. In the local state court where I often find myself it costs one dollar per page to copy records. More than that, though, it's a huge pain in the ass to have documents copied. It involves a lot of standing around in line and waiting. If I had a scanner I could quickly scan the documents I needed, without having to pay an exorbitant fee or wait an inordinate amount of time.

That's where the mobile scanner by Fujitsu would come in handy. The Fujitsu model S300 (available in a Mac version called the S300m) is available for $260 at Amazon.  It has an automatic document feeder that holds 10 pages, and scans at a rate of about 10 pages per minute. Granted, this is not very fast, but certainly fast enough for any kind of mobile scanning that you're likely to do. The scanner will do duplex scanning, and will scan in color. The best thing about it, however, is that it does not need a separate power supply. It takes up its power from the USB port of your computer, which can be a laptop.

If you have this notion that scanners are hard to configure and use then you might be thinking about the wrong kind of scanner.  The Fujitsu models are dead-simple to set up and operate.  Check them out if you want to lessen your frustrating reliance on paper.  I'm going to order one of the mobile models (already have two S510s) so that next time I have to go to court I won't waste money. If I scan 260 pages of records the scanner will have paid for itself.  And, I'm sure it will take me less than half the time it takes the court employees to make copies (which of course I only need so that I can take them back to my office to scan them!).

Annotate PDFs (free and easy)

If you have a Mac and the latest operating system you can easily annotate PDFs.  How?  This very short video from Apple explains how.  And this video shows you how to manipulate PDFs using the same free software that came with your Mac.