how to set up fileing system for law office?

Question

I need to know how to set up a file system for a law office?

Answer 1

I'd recommend scanning as many documents as possible - especially critical documents - in searchable PDF formats, and using several pieces of software to perform various functions. If you don't, the paper will innundate you.

I use a combination of programs in addition to Acrobat, including CaseMap and TimeMap from Casesoft/Lexis-Nexis for tracking case specific developments, Concordance and IproViewer, which are standalones in document management, and, at the moment, use Excel for billing and time tracking - but I'm not satisfied with that solution, and will be looking for something more efficient.

And I back up at least weekly, including e-mail (I prefer Eudora over Outlook).

When it comes to paper - the above answers are pretty good... but minimizing paper is what's critical!

Answer 2

Geneally, files are organized by client, since that's the most common way they need to be retrieved.

With that, you'd need to keep separate track of current ongoing cases/issues, versus past/resolved cases/issues. Past cases can be archived, since they will need to be accessed much less often, but it's generally efficient to prepare a short (1-2 page) summary that's kept in their current file.

Other than that generality, there are a dozen different options depending on the type of practice and available space. Paper vs. digital. Archives on-site versus storage. What types of backups and duplicates, etc.

Email me privately if you want further information.

Answer 3

You should have learned how to do this in Law School. If you didn't, you need to go back. This is something you should have been taught to do either in a Clinic or in Professional Responsibility.

Answer 4

Keeping Law In Order
"In this profession, we live and die by billable hours," says Bob Huber, Partner in a Minneapolis law firm, "and the last thing I want to do is spend any of those hours chasing a lost file." An efficient filing system goes right to the bottom line: greater efficiency and productivity mean improved profitability.

Robert Edell, Senior Partner at another firm, concurs. "Our profitability is measured directly by how successful we are in doing our job, particularly in the area of litigation. When you walk into a courtroom, how well prepared you are is going to have a lot to do with the outcome of the litigation."

"We don't want to look messy in court, and we don't want our office to look messy, either," says another attorney. "I read somewhere that lawyers are like car dealers: we spend the bulk of our decorating dollars on the lobby and service spaces, and the administration area gets to be the step-child. Our filing room looked like a dungeon before we switched to a Smead system."

For more than 90 years, Smead has manufactured filing products for the legal profession. We make file pockets , file folders , indexing systems , and a variety of filing accessories . Our custom manufacturing capability allows us to design products specific to your needs. And, based on years of experience in filing systems, Smead can offer solutions to the most complex file management problems.

As the practice of law has changed over the years, Smead has adapted its products to meet the needs of the profession -- today we have electronic records systems that use bar codes to track both hard-copy and computer-stored documents. We offer the widest variety of filing supplies available for the legal market, and our durable, high quality products stand up to the effects of time and heavy use. In an average law office, that can mean years of use and abuse for just a single file.
OK, so how do we get started?
"Our system is so complicated, just thinking about reorganizing it gave me a migraine," says a law office administrator. "But our Smead representative came in for a free consultation and explained how file indexing could reduce our filing costs and improve our productivity -- he's a filing specialist, I'm not. I just heaved a sigh of relief and handed the whole thing over to him. It's the best career decision I've made in years, because the new system cuts stress in the office by about half."

If you're interested in a consultation, just call your office products dealer to request that a Smead representative visit your firm, at no charge, to conduct a thorough file survey. The survey is the first and most important step to establishing a system that will work for you. Based on your existing files, your storage facilities, and your estimated future needs, your Smead representative will help you set up a system that will save you time, money, and headache medication.
How do we organize our system?
Indexing is key to an efficient system, says Law Office Administrator Barbara Stixrud. "A million-dollar case may rest on us getting the proper record into the hands of the court officer who needs it, and getting it there on time."

Without an efficient indexing or labeling system , records get misfiled or not filed at all because people don't understand where they belong. Smead indexing products can accommodate any firm's filing system, whether it's numeric, alphabetic, or some combination of both. Adding color coding to your system will dramatically reduce your chances of misfiling a record. You may want to use different-sized labels to differentiate between client ID numbers and matter numbers.

Most large and mid-sized firms use numerical indexing to organize their filing system. Client ID numbers, matter and submatter numbers can easily be sorted and searched on computers with most law firm management software. Users can call up a file's number on screen, then retrieve it quickly from the central file because the large labels make it easy to locate.

Some firms use colored labels to define their files by attorney, area of practice, or type of matter. For help in setting up a new system, or making the one you've already got more efficient, ask your Smead representative for advice.
How do we deal with multiple users?
Faced with the frustration of being unable to put their hands on a specific file when it's needed -- and the loss of billable time spent in the resulting search -- many attorneys become "file hoarders," unwilling to entrust their client files to what seems to them to be a disorganized, slow-moving central filing system. Hoarding, however, doesn't guarantee greater accessibility because it's difficult to keep track of which files are in which attorney's offices. Because files aren't where they should be for proper maintenance, another expensive result of an inefficient filing system can be unnecessary duplication of effort in recreating the contents of a missing file.

It takes only one lost file to see the benefits of using an out-guide , a marker that clearly indicates the position of a removed file and notes who took the folder and when. Some firms use vinyl out-guides that have a small pocket for the charge-out card and a large one for temporary holding of papers created while the file is out. How you enforce the out-guide system is up to you.
Smead systems travel with you
Smead wallets protect valuable files from damage and can act as portable filing cabinets at client meetings or in court. Like Smead file pockets, extra-wide wallets stand up under heavy use. You don't want your file folder or wallet to break and scatter papers in front of the jury.

A lawyer who scrambles to find papers seems disorganized and flustered, which is hardly going to impress a client. "I came out of a closing last week where we had over 100 documents," says Attorney Ann Meyer, "and I felt like I was on top of it because I had each document in a file and each file alphabetized; it made the whole transaction go very smoothly."
The bottom line
Good organization promotes good will. In the office, on the telephone, or in court, speedy access to documents helps you present a professional image and promotes efficiency. "The most important rule of an attorney is to show the court, show a jury, that you care," says Attorney Reese Chezick. "You don't show that you care if you have a disorganized file, if you're shuffling for papers, if you're groping for things in what could be a large file."

Whether you're a two-person or 200-attorney firm, paper piles up in a law office. Caring for your clients and doing the best work you can depends on swift, accurate access to documents pertaining to each case. Smead helps you organize your filing system so that you can put your hands on the records you need, when you need them