There are many high-tech firms around today that use very little paper. The majority of others are already well on their journey to becoming paperless (or paperlite). Most of the firms we speak to wish to eliminate as much paper as possible from their processes. The benefits of improved security, increased efficiency and reduced costs (both financial and environmental) are acknowledged as driving factors. However, above all else law firm clients expect it too. Whilst some members of the public still hold onto paper, perhaps mostly for legal documents that require signatures– despite the electronic signature carrying as much legal clout as a signature signed with pen on paper, the majority of people dealing with lawyers these days expect paper-free processes. In fact, they are disappointed if their law firm isn’t embracing tech in the same way all their other service providers are. According to Datareportal the UK’s internet penetration at the start of 2022 was 98%, and uswitch recently reported that 88% of adults in the UK in 2022 had a mobile phone. People book doctors appointments, order cabs and food, and book travel online every day. Why would law firm clients want to revert to paper when dealing with their legal matters?
In this blog, we will discuss the different stages of the paperless transition and provide an estimate of how long each stage is likely to take for a medium-sized law firm, with a determined team and a solid plan.
Preparation (estimated: 4-8 weeks)
Understanding the firm’s current paper-based processes is the first step. Assessing the firm’s paper usage and the process areas that can be improved is a good starting point. This should be followed by the development of a ‘going-paperless’ roadmap for the transition. During this step the firm should assess the technology they have, and any gaps they need to fill in terms of hardware, software and security systems, as well as infrastructure to support the paperless environment. Part of preparation is also determining the costs associated with the transition. It is also important during this stage to involve your people – the earlier you can communicate the firm’s paperless plans to your staff, clients and other stakeholders and how the transition will affect them, the better.
From our experience, we estimate that for a medium-sized business the preparation stage could be done within 4-8 weeks.
Digitisation (estimated: 4-12 weeks)
There may be an element of digitisation required in terms of scanning existing paper for some long-established firms. A good document management system needs to be at the heart of this activity, along with a well thought-through filing and retrieval workflow to ensure your users are able to access the documents they need when they need them. Optical-character-recognition (OCR) may also be a good choice for firms that still rely on important paper files to automate the digitisation.
Some firms may not need any hard-copy document scanning. Others may decide not to scan old documents, but to set a cut-off date. All documents generated from this date forward will be digital, paper files will still be available in the traditional way until such a time when they are phased out.It may be necessary for incoming paper-documents to be scanned for firms that still receive them.
This is more difficult to estimate in terms of time frame. However, on the whole, our experience suggests that the digitisation stage of this journey should be achievable within 4-12 weeks for a medium-sized firm.
Technology Review (estimated: 4 weeks)
It’s really important a law firm wishing to go paperless does a thorough review of their technology stack to establish what they will need from their IT infrastructure to support a paperless environment. The level of tech within firms differ greatly. Some are very high-tech and are probably paperless or at least highly paperlite anyway. Others are still struggling with paper at the other end of the scale. There is a mass of firms in between at different points on their digital transformation journey.
Many firms already have decent legal practice and case management software systems in place. Others have software, but they are not completely happy with it. Some know they have outgrown their systems, and acknowledge they will need new software before they can ebmark on their paperless journey.
Every type of paper document generated by the firm, as well as any paper document types that tends to be received by the firm, needs to be listed, discussed and considered in terms of what would it take to automate the document type as a digital process. This report should take each paper document type in turn and assess whether the technology is already available as part of the firm’s current technology stack, or is it something they would need to address and invest in.
This should include whether the technology required is cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or on-premise software installed on the firm’s own inhouse hardware/servers. It should also software that software modules and applications for legal accounts, time recording, case management, document manager, workflow software for different areas of law such as conveyancing, family, crime, commercial, e-signature software. Hardware too, needs to be considered including a review of servers, desktops, laptops, scanners etc. Printers and photocopies should be looked at differently. If you have them, they breed paper.
We estimate the review itself, for a medium-sized law firm, could be accomplished within a 4 week period.
Obviously, equipping the firm with new software will take longer. For those that will be replacing their legal software system as part of their paperless journey, here is another blog that answers the question ‘How long does it take to implement new law firm software?” where we estimate firms need anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to bring in new business software.
Training & Adoption (Estimated: training and adoption takes effort from day 1 of a firm’s digital transformation journey + once ready for roll out an additional 4-8 weeks)
A training plan needs to be developed that covers all staff involved in the change. This should include initial presentations during the planning stage where the paperless aspirations are presented and discussed, and decisions are made, recorded and paperless champions are recruited in the various law firm departments.
Throughout the journey, different people from across departments will need to be involved with each stage listed above. This all needs to be part of the plan. It should clearly outline who’s input is required to report on the different paper documents the business handles – both firm-generated and incoming, and the decisions made about the related, new paperless processes.
Once paperless processes are agreed and tested, rolling them out clearly across departments needs to be planned and executed in a steady fashion with as little impact on the day-to-day running of the firm as possible. It might be sensible to take a phased approach. For example, tackle all incoming documentation first. Then all signed documentation next, Then firm-generated documents by department.
We estimated training and adoption should run from day 1 of the journey. But during the roll out phase, for a medium sized firm we estimate the training should take approximately 1-2 months.
An important note about security
We don’t know any law firms, and we know a lot, that are completely paper-reliant. Most embraced technology to improve efficiency decades ago. However, for any firm that is moving from a business model that is heavily reliant on paper to a digitised system, cyber security has to be a top priority. Our resource - “Cyber security for law firms: everything you need to know” – offers sound advice.
It takes time, but it will be worth it
The time it takes to become paperless will vary depending on the size of the law firm, the complexity of the operations and the technology in situ. However, it goes without saying that the benefits of becoming paperlite will be significant in terms of reduced environmental impact, increased efficiency and meeting client expectations.
For further advice and information
If you would like to book a call with a legal software consultant to discuss your digital transformation challenges, we would be pleased to hear from you. You can download our brochure here if you have decided you are replacing your current software. You may also be interested in our latest download – ‘The BIG guide to switching your legal case management software'.