Why to Do It

Generally speaking, the benefits are:

• reduced file storage costs;
• the efficiency of having all firm information reside in once central digital repository.  Also, a firm is better positioned to take advantage of new technologies such as document automation if client information is already stored digitally;
• better risk management as client conflict checks are more comprehensive and automatic;
• the ability to work remotely, enhancing work life balance (which can be a human resources advantage);
• often enhanced client service through increased speed of delivery of legal services; and
• being paperless is green as thousands of documents are never printed out.

Issues to Be Aware Of

A firm has to be aware of potential issues of being paperless, including:

• the importance to regular and secure data back-up;
• security concerns; and
• potential staff resistance.

How to Do It

At the outset, a firm needs to be dedicated to the paperless goal and implement a well organized plan. It is important to get buy in from all staff, put firm policies in place and ensure adequate time and resources are allotted to planning, implementation and training.

Second, a firm must ensure its hardware is up to the demands of the increased amount of scanning, processing and storage.  Network servers need the ability to store up to 5 GB per lawyer per year. Having a reliable backup system and testing it often is critical.  A firm should consider installing scanners at every desk and have a central printer/scanner for larger scanning projects.

Third, a firm needs to put the required software in place. Adobe Acrobat is the standard for document exchange and is a good means for converting paper documents to legal files.  A document management software program needs to be selected, which serves as an electronic filing cabinet.  Finally, a firm may want to consider legal practice management software as well.  Practice management software allows a law firm to centrally organize client information digitally, including accounting, contact and case data.  Practice management programs often have document management capabilities built in, or you can link a third party document management program such as Worldox.  Two popular examples of practice management programs are Amicus Attorney and Time Matters.

Example in Practice

Heritage Law is an example of a  “paperless” law firm and utilizes practice management software to centrally manage billing, time tracking, matter information, contacts, appointments, documents and document assembly.  All staff log into one remote, secure server over the internet which is a repository for all firm data and software applications.  We have a VOIP phone system which allows ten staff in ten different locations to use the same phone line and system.  We have a remote answering service which answers client calls during the business day if a staff member is out of the office and routes the message to the appropriate person to deal with.  All staff have a computer, high speed internet, a VOIP phone and a scanner at their home offices.

With respect to software, we use PCLawPro for billing and time keeping.

We use Time Matters Enterprise for matter management and tracking contacts and appointments.  Time Matters has been customized for Heritage Law as follows.  There are tabs for matters in the categories of: Corporate, Litigation, Estate Admin, Estate Planning, Family Law, Mediation and by responsible lawyer so every open matter in the firm is categorized and viewable from one central location.  Each matter has an electronic client intake sheet so the user can see information including the date the file was opened, the responsible lawyer, the referral source, bring forward dates, relevant limitation dates, conflict check info, retainer letter info, any special billing info and a current status field where a short update is typed as the file progresses.

We use Worldox for document management.  No paper is kept except for original client documents.  Every document is saved or scanned into the system and saved according to client and matter.  Every document saved in Worldox is searchable by client, matter, description and text.

We use HotDocs 2008 Professional Edition for document assembly.  All our standard firm documents (memo, fax cover sheet, retainer letters, non-engagement letters, reporting letters and demand letters) are automated.  We are currently working on a project to automate our estate planning practice (wills, powers of attorney and representation agreements).  Document automation, in addition to the other programs, enables staff to generate client documents in an efficient and high quality manner.

PCLaw, Time Matters, Worldox and HotDocs are all linked together to work as a cohesive whole.

Each member of the firm shares a Microsoft Windows desktop running on a shared server in the Heritage Law IT infrastructure, and every desktop offers all of the core productivity applications previously described. Because all of the desktops reside on the same server, rather than on individually configured and field deployed desktop PCs, all that is required for a staff member to access and begin work for Heritage each day is a Windows PC and an internet connection. The Windows PC does not have to have any special applications installed on it, and might be a home PC, a borrowed PC, a laptop on the road or any other PC to which the staff member has access throughout their work day.

Each staff member has a Polycom SoundPoint IP 560 desk phone with HD Voice technology. Each phone has an ordinary 3 digit extension registered through Iristel, a Canadian internet telephony service provider. The power of the phone system is derived from the fact that the phones can be connected to any ordinary internet connection in any of the staff member’s home offices, and yet all remain reachable through simple 3 digit extensions. Calls to other phones in North America are toll free, and calls within the firm have HD voice quality. There is an automated attendant to greet callers and provides a directory for them to reach the appropriate staff member’s extension.

As the staff all wish to have flexible schedules, we employ a call answering service based in Abbotsford, BC called Re: Messaging Solutions Inc.  If a staff member does not pick up a client call directed to their local on our phone system, the call is then automatically forwarded to the answering service.  The answering service can then call the staff member directly on their cell phone, email the message to them or forward the message to another staff member, depending on the circumstances.  This allows us to be able to maintain a high level of client service while staff are out of the office during regular business hours.

Clients can fill out questionnaire forms online which are emailed to the firm prior to a file being opened.  The goal in the future is to populate this information into an answer file in our document automation program for enhanced efficiency.

Heritage Law is currently working on www.heritagelawonline.com, where clients will be able to potentially interact with the firm entirely online.

Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre
999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC

Nicole Garton-Jones Presenting on Virtual Law Firms and How to Run a Paperless Law Office

Virtually Legal
The rising costs of running a traditional law business, massive cutbacks and salary freezes at large firms, and the explosive growth in online technology have all led to the rise of virtual law firms (VLFs). A VLF is one where much of the firm’s operations — law books, client files, practice management tools, meeting spaces, and so on — are entirely online.

Is It Time for Your Firm to Reconsider Remote Access?

By Allison C. Shields

Many attorneys find that working remotely provides a better work/life balance, and here are more reasons to consider it for your office.

Heritage Law, a boutique firm located in West Vancouver, BC, requires an administrative assistant 3-4 days a week. We would prefer a graduate of the Capilano University Administrative Assistant program or equivalent. Experience in wills and estates, corporate records and family law is helpful. The compensation is $20/hour or $28,000/year salary range.  We are a collegial firm and are recognized for offering superior work/life balance.

Please forward your resume, transcript and references to Nicole Garton-Jones at nicole@bcheritagelaw.com.

See www.bcheritagelaw.com for more information on our firm.

The winner will be announced at the 2009 Annual Presidents Dinner and Business Excellence Awards

Capilano Golf & Country Club

Presentation Ceremony, Silent Auction, Dinner & Dance

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 from 6:00pm to 11:00pm

Tickets $95.00 each.

To register: http://www.westvanchamber.com/events1.html

The annual Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch Work Life Balance Award, sponsored by Corporate Occupational Solutions Inc., is made in recognition of work life balance to the legal community by a CBA member, CBA supporting law firm or an organization that demonstrates leadership and commitment to work life balance in the practice of law. There will be a luncheon to honour the second recipient of the Work Life Balance Award on June 25, 2009 at the Sutton Place Hotel, to be presented by Attorney General Wally Oppal, QC.

The nominees this year include

• Heritage Law;
• Todd A. Rattray, Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP;
• Pushor Mitchell LLP; and
• Barbara K. Buchanan, Law Society of British Columbia

Sign Up Form

Stansfield died last week at 57, after six years of being treated for cancer. I interviewed him five times in the past three years and was always struck by his passion for justice and his desire that every person and every community have access to it. His desire to create the best justice system possible is now his legacy.

When he became chief judge in 2005, Stansfield brought a new feel to the office. We didn’t hear much from judges, never mind the top provincial court judge. Stansfield changed that, making himself available to media throughout the province. He was as happy to be interviewed by the Nanaimo Daily News as go on radio or TV.

As associate chief judge in the 1990s, he oversaw what became known as the criminal case flow management system. Lawyers, even some judges, grumbled about it, but Stansfield consulted widely in addition to drawing on his own experience in courthouses large and small in creating the system. Lawyers were concerned that the CCFM, as it came to be known, would alter their own case flow and cut into their billing. But Stansfield had anticipated that and was clear that the system actually created more flexibility, and that lawyers could make as much or more as under the old system.

When he first came to Nanaimo as chief judge in May 2006, Stansfield addressed a gathering of business people. He didn’t tell them what the justice system was going to do about drugs and crime, just when Victoria Crescent had seen the arrival of open drug use and dealing and the problems that went with that.

Stansfield turned the tables and invited them to join the justice system in finding a solution. I have to admit I was a little surprised, and happy, to hear that the chief judge had some good ideas about changing the perceptions of a failing justice system.

“We need to be integrating (the justice system) into communities in ways we never have before,” he said at the time. “We’re recognizing we can’t be that way, we have to open up the doors, literally and metaphorically.”

Stansfield was back in Nanaimo a month later speaking to city staff members, council members, police and Crown and defence lawyers in light of the drug plague that had invaded the downtown. Again Stansfield didn’t bring a message of stiffer sentences and harsher laws. He knew how those efforts not only fail, but compound criminality.

The most important piece, said Stansfield, was finding a way to help drug users.

“For some offenders, their lives are going to be served best by getting at their problems,” said Stansfield.

As he did with streamlining a convoluted court system designed for a past era, Stansfield went on to be the figure behind opening a drug court in Vancouver as well as the community court pilot programs. I remember his passion as he described to me the Red Hook Community Justice Centre in New York that he had visited.

If I understand Stansfield’s vision, it was for a justice system that reserved the adversarial process for serious crimes and diverted drug and mental health cases to the proper forums where they would be handled as health issues. Civil cases also needed to be moved into a realm where the courts were part of dispute resolution, not dictating a decision, he said. It’s sad Stansfield has been taken from us, but his passing will give all of us the opportunity to embrace his vision of creating a justice system that is effective as well as compassionate.

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Cam was called to the Bar yesterday and has opened his own boutique law firm, Monsef and Company.

Solo Practitioners Explore a Range of Networking Options