Are you still printing that agreement the client needs to sign? If yes, then this blog post is for you. Law firms today spend enormous amounts of time and money in printing documents, and that’s not counting the wasted space with piles of Bankers Boxes around the office to store the physical files.
While law firms understand the benefits of going paperless, they’re often not sure when and where to begin. They think the process to become paperless is costly and not fit for their law firm due to the nature of the operation, their practice area, etc. and most importantly they’re not sure whether it is even possible and where on earth to begin.
We live in the digital world, and being paperless is a fundamental benefit of the digital age. You might think you are restricted with a paperless system, but even activities like stamping, signing, and faxing documents have been digital for at least a decade. If your firm is still doing these manually, then you really need to read this blog.
Here are the 5 Signs that you must become the paperless law office and reap the benefits of the digital world:
You cannot remotely access all your files.
The Covid -19 pandemic has forced everyone out of the office and into their homes with the daily operations of businesses around the world being affected, including for law firms. Simply put, life is different, we all have to accept the fact that it may never return to the same normal again, even when this pandemic is over.
Law firms were forced to work remotely and that transition hasn’t been easy especially with law firms depending on physical papers and being unable to remotely access the closed personal injury case files stored in the Bankers Boxes. With the right tool, however, this problem can be easily resolved.
So if you can’t access all your documents and files remotely during this pandemic, then it’s the first sign that you need to go paperless.
You have a high storage cost
There is no question that maintaining client files for the requisite seven-year period can be a burden for personal injury law firms of all sizes.
This is especially true in the case of civil litigation firms, where even the most straightforward cases might generate thousands of pages of documents. Those thousands of pages of documents translate into stacks and stacks of banker’s boxes, which translate directly into thousands of dollars every year in storage costs. In addition to retrieval fees, you need to invest a sufficient amount of time and effort to retrieve the files and find the information you are searching for.
Becoming a paperless law firm will free you of endless Bankers Boxes occupying needed space in your office.
Retrieving files take hours
Given the fact that personal injury lawyers need to process cases quickly, efficiency is the top goal for a PI law firm. If you need to access a file, then you could end up spending hours or an entire day tracking it down. With today’s technology we can make that happen in a matter of minutes, with digital storage you can bring an old case file up instantly, and, to make your life even easier, you can then search (as easily as a Google search) for the exact information from a case you require! Free yourself from the burdens of physical storage.
If you have recently spent more than 10 mins searching for and locating a file then your law firm needs to move to the cloud and a paperless system.
Losing files is your worst nightmare.
The main and most obvious risk to law firms is data loss from human-made or natural disasters. When disaster strikes data can easily disappear, files can be burned, equipment can be water-damaged, documents can be blown away, the scenarios are endless. And this type of large-scale data loss can lead to severe consequences for your firm.
But when your practice is paperless, all your firm’s and clients’ confidential data is stored in the cloud. And cloud-based storage is not susceptible to fire or flood. When it comes to disaster recovery, cloud-based case management software are a better alternative than on-premise centers or practice management software.
Your data is maintained on servers across multiple locations globally, so the impact is severely lessened when a disaster hits locally. Plus, your data rests on top-tier servers that are secured against data breaches and constantly monitored for potential threats and data security.
So being a paperless law firm takes worries away.
You care for the environment
Less paper means you don’t have to lug heavy Bankers Boxes around the office or make space for them. It also means that fewer trees are cut down, and you are on track to become an eco-friendly law practice. So ‘Go Green’ if you care for the environment around you, by going paperless.
If you have noticed these signs and want to go paperless without wasting any more time, speak to our Cloud Consultants and learn more about paperless practice today.
