Legal Brief for April, 2015

Going Paperless - Part 1

There has been much talk over the years of the paperless office - where with the coming of computers and e-mail and the internet we could all dispense with the mounds of paper that businesses of all kinds seemed to generate in ever growing quantities as the years went by.  For a long time that seemed to be nothing more than a mirage on the horizon, something that always disappeared as soon as you drew near to it.  However, given the advances in technology and software such as scanning and pdf programs, for most of us we are actually very close to, if not the paperless office, at least the paper-less office.  I have certainly noticed this in my own law practice.  Let me share a few examples.  

In the "old days" (up to about just 10 years ago literally) the paper file for a client was the focus of everyone's attention.  Everything that came in on a matter or was generated in any fashion was printed off and "put on the file".  This was partly due to the need to have copies of all letters and documents available to refer to, and also to ensure that there was a paper record of everything that transpired on a transaction in case there were any issues or disputes, or errors in the handling of the matter.  The size of files could grow quite quickly in most cases, necessitating an ever expanding collection of file cabinets in law offices, and then having to maintain off site storage facilities for closed files (which by Law Society rules are supposed to be kept for 10 years minimum following the completion of a matter).  All of this meant increased costs for the law firm, and ultimately for the consumer of the legal services.  

The development of scanning technology has been a game changer as they say in terms of this situation.  Most photocopiers that are on the market these days are multi purpose machines, which in addition to copying also provide faxing capability and in the last 10 years or so scanning technology.  The scanning function allows us for example to scan and save a lengthy legal document to our computers that we might otherwise have to keep a paper copy of it.  Once it is securely on the computer we no longer need to have the paper copy in our file.  If we need to refer to it, we can instantly bring it up on our monitor and then if necessary print off portions or all of it as may be needed.  The same is true of incoming letters, certificates and even e-mails for that matter.  

I find that by the time I have completed a real estate transaction nowadays I have a virtual electronic copy of the entire file on my computer system.  Once the matter is completed I can then discard and shred all of the material that came in while the matter was ongoing, and my closed file may consist of a few pages deemed critical or sensitive rather than a file that formerly might have been 4-5 cm thick.  And, if a client contacts me a few years later looking for a copy of their real property report or closing statement of funds or some other document that they may have misplaced, I can quickly go to the archive section of my computer, bring up their documents and e-mail them off in a matter of seconds.  In the "old days" we would have had to retrieve the closed file from storage, page through it looking for the document, make a photocopy of it, and then mail it out to the client.  And then return the closed file back to the off site storage.  In hindsight what a cumbersome and time consuming process that was.  Now we are just a click of a mouse away from sending someone an electronic copy of that 60 page lease document that they can't find in their own records.  

However, as with most advances in technology, there are always pitfalls and unexpected consequences that have come with these changes in business practices.  We will take a look at some of those concerns in next month's Legal Brief: Going Paperless - Part 2.  

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