Peer to Peer Magazine

June 2012

The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association

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but it was an ad hoc work process that always demanded additional effort after scanning. Trying a Crash Diet Although this process was repeatable, it was not regimented. It still required several manual steps and put a burden on our email system. Documents were allowed to languish in an inbox and the required post-scanning work was often delayed because it was considered a hassle. We wanted to have the department bypass the email system altogether and find a solution to use its scanners to send text-searchable PDFs automatically to the correct matter's folder within the DMS. In 2010, we briefly adopted a scanning solution we thought would help us meet this requirement and get us beyond where we were with the MFPs. However, it wouldn't work with our Xerox devices and also required our LOC department to purchase additional scanning services each month. It demanded extensive training, which was not well-received by those who used the solution — especially when time is such a valuable commodity. After conducting the post-mortem on the failed project, it was determined that Mendes & Mount needed a solution that required very little training and ideally would work within the already familiar DMS user interface. It obviously needed to be compatible with our Xerox MFPs and able to produce a searchable PDF that our users would find very valuable. Above and beyond that, any solution we adopted had to position us for long-term success. It Has To Be a Lifestyle Every moment a lawyer or legal professional is wrestling with paper or software takes away from the firm's overall profitability. Additionally, can a law firm keep footing the ever-growing bill associated with file room and offsite paper storage? As a firm accumulates more and more paper without attempting to reduce and/or control the volume, it just means greater costs every month for storage and retrieval. As IT leadership for the law firm of 2020 continues to adapt, today's reactive role for CIOs (i.e., the law firm has a need for technology and IT finds a solution to fit that need) must change. IT leadership must continue to shift from reacting to enacting. IT leadership must be actively searching for new solutions and enforcing their use. Finally, law firms will need to maximize the value of existing hardware and software. A solution that doesn't integrate well won't be accepted. If your file room is wallowing in paper and the rest of Peer to Peer 39

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