Whether you are a small or large law firm, your business will mostly be based on documents. Legal documents, correspondence, and also a lot of administrative stuff (think invoices and such). Being a lawyer has always meant that you find yourself surrounded by a lot of paper.

Paper is everywhere

Even though modern IT solutions might have allowed you to use less paper for years now, through for example your document management system or high-tech scanning solution, there is a large chance that the amount of paper around you, is still the same. This might be due to several reasons:

• the amount of documents and e-mail correspondence has grown significantly so that even though a lot less is printed on paper, in the end the piles of paper have not diminished;
• you or your fellow lawyers have a hard time completely trusting the 'digital' copy of your files and feel more secure (consciously or subconsciously) knowing that there is a paper version of the entire case in your cabinet (or the company archives);
• there is this belief within your firm that having a physical copy of a document (or e-mail) gives it more legal validity (i.e. it could more easily be used as 'legal proof'). This belief is based on false assumptions but can be hard to get rid of;
• you like to read everything from paper and have a hard time throwing anything away;
• you refuse to use the computer and have your secretary print every single e-mail or have the intern print everything they can find through Legal Intelligence (or any other know-how database) on a certain subject for a current matter;
• you love the smell of paper and having a room full of bulging matter files makes you feel alive. Plus you love having your clients visit you and impress them with the amount of information you gather on their case.

Some very good reasons to get rid of paper

From the perspective of the modern firm manager, paper is a costly thorn in the eye. From my perspective, as a minimalist and environmentally conscious person, paper is quite evil. Paper is simply a big waste of resources:

• costly to purchase (and costly to print on). The cost of the printers, including all the resources they use (power, IT support, maintenance, etc.), also has to be taken into account;
• costly to store. Think of all the warehouses full of paper archives that we accumulated over the past decades. First, your paper files will probably live inside your office for a while. I have seen plenty of lawyers who can not find certain matter files on a daily basis with it either being lost in the piles somewhere, misplaced by a secretary, given (and forgotten that it was) to a junior lawyer for further study, etc. After a while, the file may be stored in a cabinet and eventually be send of to an external archive just in case it will be needed again in the future;
• costly to handle. Searching for that one document in a huge binder or tracking down that certain invoice in a pile of similar looking invoices. Having to arrange different storage for the files as they get older and older or arranging for them to be destroyed. These are just a few example of the 'handling' cost of paper;
• a huge waste of our earthly resources.

So not only does paper involve a large share of material resources, there is also a lot of time involved with the handling of paper (printing, finding, sorting, archiving). The elimination of paper is probably one of the largest reasons a modern lawyer can do without secretarial support much easier.

Start eliminating paper, now!

Is it hard to eliminate paper? No, not at all. You do not even have to eliminate all paper. If you enjoy reading certain things from paper - like that final due diligence report that you are going over one more time - than you can still print it, of course. The time that we all have access to excellent e-readers that can truly replace paper, is still somewhere in the future.
What I am advocating is that you do not try and keep the paper in your office anymore. So after reading that final version of the document, you can throw it away (recycle bin).

Scanners that turn paper into digital files are usually ubiquitous in offices nowadays. Software for archiving your files are available in many forms. You can choose to have your digital files made "searchable" by making the text readable by your computer systems. This technology is often referred to as OCR (Optical Character Recognition) as a computer needs to recognize the letters of a text as separate characters.
Also keep in mind that it is important to store your files in an accepted "archiving" format. File formats (like Microsoft Word format or Adobe PDF) tend to change every few years and are not supported indefinitely. To avoid any problems, go with PDF/A.

Keep it simple (with going paperless)

My approach to the paperless office is to start of simple. One of the parts of your office that lends itself for going paperless first, is your incoming invoices. Invoices are usually entered into an accounting system and then stored away in binders. Legally you can just as well throw the paper version of the invoice away, and only keep a digital copy. Simply scan all incoming invoices and then throw them away. Store the invoices with the help from your accounting software or archiving software. Alternatively you can create your own system of storing the files (somewhere on your company file system). You could use Dropbox as a secure backup solution (and at the same time having access to these files from anywhere).

Two other solutions for easy-and-quick scanning and archiving that are especially useful for smaller firms (but could also be leveraged by larger firms):

• use an iPhone or other smartphone (e.g. Android phones) to 'scan' the invoices and receipts by taking a picture of it. There are special scanning 'apps' to assist you with this, e.g. Scanner Pro for iPhone.
• use an archiving/notes utility. There are specialized apps and services for invoices (Shoeboxed, JustTheBill) and there are more general apps for archiving everything (Evernote). I prefer the latter and use Evernote myself. Every invoice or receipt will be scanned (with a scanner or with my iPhone (through Evernote)) and synced with Evernote. That means that I can always access my archived invoices through my computer, iPhone, iPad or the Internet.

Now that more and more companies are sending digital invoices it also helps that these can be easily combined with your scanned archive.

There we have it, our first steps into going paperless. If you have any questions in finding the right solutions to help your firm become 'paperless', please do not hesitate to contact me or my company (Legalsense).

Legal IT Professionals published an interesting ten-minute interview with Jack Newton, President of Clio. Clio is web-based practice management system mostly targeted at small law firms. Jack has some interesting things to say about 'Software as a Service' (SaaS), the future of mobile devices and his own company/product. Worth listening to at Ten minutes with Jack Newton (Clio).

Apple will be launching the iPad in the US soon (3 April 2010). Every geek's favorite fruit-company has tried to create as much hype around the iPad as there was around the iPhone. The success of the iPhone has been astounding. The corporate world still seems quite hooked on Blackberries though the calls for iPhones among lawyers is becoming increasingly stronger. The biggest advantages of the iPhone: it genuinely easy and intuitive to use and it has 'an app for everything'.

Modern computer operating systems are (still) simply too hard to understand for most people. The same goes for most smart phones. There are thousands of people who hold on to the "I just want a phone that can call" adagium. On the other hand, there are plenty of people that actually want - or even had - a smart phone (one that can read e-mail, browse the web, play some music, take and show pictures, etc.) - but were never capable of fully understanding it. If I ask a typical Blackberry user (even those who have a Curve, Bold or Bold 2): "How often browse the web on their Blackberry?", the answer is usually: "never" (or: "I did not know that was possible"). Every iPhone user browses the web (either through one of the apps or through the standard Safari browser on a daily basis.

A category of its own

Apple has seen that their version of a smartphone has redefined the way people use their phone and has made it possible for non-technical users to perform various tasks on this single device. The iPhone has started to outgrow the 'smartphone' label - it is now used a small hand-held computer.

The logical next step for Apple is to take the success of the iPhone platform - both the iPhone Operating System with its consistent and easy-to-use interface (multitouch and well-designed hardware and software interface elements) and the concept of Apps and the App store - to another platform. The simplest approach: to increase the size of the screen (and thus the device) so that the tasks that require a little more screen real estate (like reading a book, office documents or long e-mails) will become a lot easier.

Huge success

The Apple iPad is going to be a huge success. Maybe the initial success will be smaller than that of the iPhone but in many ways the iPad is a lot more revolutionary. The iPhone is still seen as a phone -- and we had many of those already. The iPad will be the first modern (2010s) hand-held computer that is truly easy-to-use and versatile. That is why the iPad is classified as a device that defines a whole new category of its own.

In your private life the iPad will (among others) be useful for:

• Any type of information consumption (reading, video's, podcasts, the web, etc.)
• Digital photo book - holding your photo database and sharing these pictures with family and friends ('here Dad, take a look at our recent vacation pictures')
• e-Learning (language learning, cooking instructions, DIY instructions etc.)
• Games and Entertainment (it will not be long before you can play Farmville on your iPad)
• Communication (mail, chat, phone (Skype), and eventually - in a future version - video calls)

Professional usage?

But what about professional usage? How will this be a useful device to have in your law firm?

At first, the iPad will mostly be a success in the private sphere of life, just like the iPhone initially was less focused on the business world. But as our business life and private life will continue to become more intertwined - so will the usage of the iPad. Even with the initial lack of multitasking will the iPad be useful for usage in your professional life. Multitasking is a myth in its own anyway - people can not really multitask and studies have found that active multi-taskers tend to be less productive than single-taskers. The iPhone does not have multitasking (yet) and is still extremely useful (also as a business device). Instead of having to bring a stack of documents to your next meeting, you just bring your iPad and flip to documents right there. Checking and responding to e-mail will be a lot easier than on your (smart)phone.

The iPad will be success in your private life - and therefore it will be a success in your business life. You might want to keep those two fully separated. But most of us are still slaves to our Blackberries (or iPhones). So as you are lying on the beach during your two week holiday this summer, you will be enjoying being able to read the latest news or that newly purchased eBook on your iPad. You will also be grateful that you can check your (work) e-mail on the device. After all - you were expecting an important message - but were reluctant to bring your laptop to the beach (who does that, really?). This is just one example of how the business usage of the iPad (or the category of devices that it represents) will be creeping into your business life through your private life. That is aside from the direct business application that the device will undoubtedly have a short while from now.

Conclusion - get ready for a new breed of computer devices to claim a role in your personal and business life. As soon as you see your fellow lawyer (or neighbor) sporting his or her new iPad - you will be wondering whether you should get one as well. Leave it up to Apple to continue making products that have that effect.

In de markt voor Document Management oplossingen - ook wel ECM - Enterprise Content Management genoemd - blijft iManage Worksite van Autonomy (/Interwoven) in Nederland aan populariteit winnen. Worksite is één van de meest geprezen document management systemen (DMS) binnen de advocatuur/professional services. In Nederland zijn vooral twee bedrijven actief als implementatie partner van Worksite: I.R.I.S. Nederland (voorheen Morningstar Systems) en Epona. Beide bedrijven hebben de afgelopen tijd weer een aantal iManage Worksite opdrachten weten binnen te halen:

• Poelmann van den Broek advocaten schaft iManage WorkSite aan - I.R.I.S.
• Ook Trip Advocaten & Notarissen investeert in de toekomst met iManage WorkSite - I.R.I.S.
• Boekel de Nerée kiest voor Worksite en Epona - Epona
• Van Benthem & Keulen maakt de stap naar digitale dossiervorming met Autonomy iManage - Epona

Morningstar Systems is per 1 januari 2010 verder gegaan als I.R.I.S. Nederland. Het zal interessant zijn om te zien wat voor een invloed de producten van I.R.I.S. (bijvoorbeeld DocCenter en Docshare) - aangezien deze producten qua functionaliteit een grote overlap met Worksite vertonen - zullen hebben op de werkzaamheden van I.R.I.S. Nederland.

Beide partijen (Epona en I.R.I.S./Morningstar) staan goed aangeschreven.

Now that Windows 7 is widely available on newly purchased systems, migrating your law firm professionals to this new Microsoft OS, becomes an interesting option. Windows XP is still the most used operating system in most firms - as most firms decided to skip the troubled Vista. Partial migration - only upgrading some of your users, for example those whose PC's you replace - is nowadays a more accepted option. It used to be that firms preferred to have all users on the exact same installation as this usually had some cost/efficiency benefits in terms of maintenance and support. These days, a temporary migration period where in the course of for example one year you migrate your users to a new OS, should - when your support and maintenance strategies are flexible enough - not cause too many pains.

Before you decide to migrate - make sure you have thoroughly tested all your existing software for compatibility with Windows 7. It surprises me how slow most companies are with providing information on Windows 7 compatibility. Most product specifications and software requirement overviews on websites do not mention the existence of the new Windows version at all. To add to the complexity: Windows 7 comes in both a 64-bit and a 32-bit version. Which version should you install?

The short answer is that you should go with Windows 7 64-bit unless you’re running a system well into its antiquity where driver support is going to become an issue.

Check out the Windows 7 Compatibility Center to search for compatible software and hardware. Unfortunately, mostly consumer software is listed on this site. If software is written for 32-bit Windows then it will most likely install as a x86 (32-bit) program under your 64-bit Windows.

The most worrisome will be the more obscure hardware that does not have driver updates available or the occasional lawyer that is wondering why his/her old Palm PDA software does not work anymore. Within the next six months, most major hardware and software manufacturers should have made their current products all Windows 7 compatible. For older hardware (or software) there will probably be ways to circumvent the problems. I was worried for example that some the Smart Card readers that are commonly used in the Netherlands would not be supported yet. That worry seems to have been unneccessary.

In the next few weeks I will be doing more hardware and software tests with Windows 7 as I am trying to introduce the OS at a Dutch law firm (remaining on Windows XP for most users). If anything important comes up, I will post that here. Preliminary findings so far show the VPN program (OpenVPN) and the Anti-Virus software (McAfee) both need updating (both free of charge).