In a world increasingly reliant on technology, many law firms are finding that digitizing legal documents is the best way to keep track of their files and paperwork and cut down on costs. In fact, a recent study has shown that businesses committed to a digital transformation are, on average, 26% more profitable than other companies in their field.
The Many Benefits of Document Digitization
There are many other benefits to digitizing your law firm’s documents and perhaps the most obvious is that it can save you a lot of space. You no longer need to keep file cabinets full of paper documents; they can all be stored electronically, freeing up a lot of space, which can be used for other purposes.
In addition to saving space, digitizing your documents can also make them much easier to access and search. You can quickly and easily search for keywords or specific phrases, saving you a lot of time when trying to find a specific document. This can be especially helpful if you have a large number of documents.
When you digitize legal documents, you also help keep them safe in the event of a disaster in your offices. In the event of a fire, flood, or other natural disaster, your paper files could be destroyed. Keeping constant backups of these files in a different location is both time-consuming and expensive.
With digitized documents, you can backup all of your important case files to the cloud, keeping them safe and accessible from anywhere if your primary location is damaged or otherwise unusable.
How Can I Easily Digitize Legal Documents?
Follow these simple steps if you want to start your firm’s digital transformation by digitizing your documents but you aren’t sure how to go about it.
1. Inventory the documents you want to digitize. You don’t need an exact page count, but you should know the approximate number of pages that need to be digitized. These documents should also be categorized by priority, confidentiality (highly confidential documents will need extra layers of security), and any other type of organization that makes sense for you. They could be in chronological order, alphabetical order according to client name, or similar.
2. Assess available resources. Digitizing legal documents does require a significant time investment, especially if you have a large number of documents. Do you have paralegals or interns who can devote regular time to the task or who could be dedicated to the project for a period of time? If not, could you bring in temp employees with both legal and digitizing experience? Do you have the equipment necessary to digitize documents, and if not, can you rent it? Who will manage the project and perform quality assurance? Once you have hammered out these details, you will be better positioned to digitize your firm’s documents.
3. Select a document management system. You will need document scanning software, document organization software, and document sharing software. You will also need software that will allow you to request and receive documents with electronic and digital signatures and otherwise easily share documents with clients and colleagues.
Rather than installing a different type of software for each task, consider using Go Find It. Our suite of products includes the following:
- Turbo Owl, our document scanning and organization tool,
- Go Share It, our document sharing tool,
- Go Sign It, our document signing tool, and
- Task Vue, our task management system.
All of these systems work seamlessly together to provide an exceptional document management system with tools for all aspects of document digitization. Our tools will digitize and organize your documents safely, securely, and comply with all industry requirements. They will also help you share documents and obtain electronic signatures when needed.
Don’t Be Left Behind
Law firms are seeking to digitize legal documents to streamline their workflows and improve efficiency. This trend is likely to continue as law firms seek to find new ways to save time and money. Per the website Hewlett Packard Enterprise, “The future of the legal profession depends on digital transformation. Law firms that don’t adopt new technologies are getting left behind.”
Contact Go Find It today to schedule a demo of our product, and we can help you take the steps you need to jump-start your law firm’s digital transformation.
