Technology applied to dull, ordinary things that must get done (TGB2)
By
Thomas Spraggs Esq.
Part Two: Document management, document assembly, collaboration, and remote access
Spraggs & Co. is thriving, plaintiff’s personal injury practice. In past years we have been looked to as
leaders in technology adoption and use, and we have had the privilege of sharing what has worked for us
at past Pacific Legal Technology Conferences. This year we are in more of a hybrid space. For example,
there has been a lot of ink spilled on the merits of going paperless, of taming the paper tiger. We have
certainly made similar moves, but the nature of our practice and the clients we serve mean we are a paperless law firm. Others talk of their lofty efforts at moving everything into the cloud. We have taken steps in
that direction as well, but there are some elements of our practice that we still prefer to secure with our
internal servers.
We approach technology with a healthy sense of skepticism and pragmatism; and we would encourage
other small-to-medium sized firms to think through their anticipated technology investments in this light:
the return on your investment in technology is often a direct function of the human behaviors that must be
changed to obtain the expected benefits enabled by the technology. In and of itself, technology is inert;
however, with appropriate and sustained human behaviours, technology can change the way we practice
and the satisfaction that our clients experience in this regard.
Technology does not yet do a good job of replacing the expertise and judgment of seasoned counsel. But
one area where technology excels is in helping with the heavy lifting of the practice of law. In part one of
this presentation, Ms. Garton-Jones highlighted how technology can help lawyers be more productive,
secure their activities, track time and billing, and manage cases. In part two we turn our attention to
document management, document assembly, collaboration and remote access.
Document Management
Many firms, especially those with a civil litigation practice, use document management software to
manage their communications, research and firm precedents. ProLaw and PC Law are two common
examples. These applications integrate with word processing software (such as the Microsoft Office
Suite) as well as structured databases, to enable users to create, view, edit, store, print, and email
documents. Access controls can be put in place, as well as integrations with billing software to track
scanning and printing direct to matters.
Lawyers and their teams can create and save documents from MS Word or scan documents in PDF or
TIFF format into the document management system. These documents can be moved much like the folder
structure on a personal computer. Each document has a file name and metadata that can be used for easier
searching. Documents can only be deleted within 15 minutes of its creation. After that time, only a system
administrator with appropriate permissions can delete the document. The documents also have a tracking
system: when users, edit, print or delete documents, the user and the time of their actions, is recorded in
the system for all other users to see. This prevents abuse of such documents by those who are not
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permitted to access the documents. Prolaw also has a feature to allow the system administrator to lock
certain files from access by users and restrict file access to certain users, in order to maintain the highest
level of confidentiality, an important feature of any law firm practice.
Document management is not ‘high-value’ work in the normal sense of legal practice. However, using
technology to help institute structured ways of creating and managing documents represents a very
straightforward way to save time, ensure reliable practice processes are in place, and to retain records and
audit trails of interaction with important legal documents and correspondence. The effectiveness of
technology-supported document management is directly contingent upon user’s interactions with the
system—so do not neglect training and set expectations in your firm appropriately.
Document management systems include: ProLaw, PC Law, DocuShare, WorkSite, Worldox, Acrobat,
NetDocuments, PlainFolders among a host of others.
Document Assembly
Document assembly is another practical reality of the modern law practice. Properly assembled and
organized documents make it easier to collaborate as a team and prevent unexpected oversights are
avoided, and responsive approaches to requests or issues can be made. Effective document assembly
prevents confusion and supports a team’s productivity.
Scanning documents and mail into a document management tool, such as ProLaw, gives all users
assigned to a matter access to the materials they need to work together. From there, documents can be
assembled, correspondence prepared and records maintained. When the documents are appropriately
assembled—along with the supporting media that might also be relevant—this information is readily
accessible for emailing, printing and copying.
In a plaintiff’s personal injury practice this means expedited requests from an insurance company for
accident statements is received, one of the litigation team can access the document and email it directly to
the client, who can then scan and return that email or return it to the firm. It’s a simple example, but it
highlights the relative ease with which interactions that might otherwise take the best of a week can be
performed more quickly.
Document assembly system options include: HotDocs, ProDoc, AIA Contract Documents.
Collaboration
The vast majority of law firms require collaboration in service of a client’s interests. This collaboration
can take many forms: from the people within a firm assigned to a specific file to firm management
interaction with vendors and even collaboration with the other side and the courts. In the same way that
there is a diversity of collaborative interactions possible in the practice of law, there are a diversity of
technology collaboration tools.
There are technologies to support all kinds of collaborations. From email, to document collaboration
tools, web conferencing and videoconferencing, voicemail and dictation, whiteboards and smartboards,
document repositories, in-person meetings and workshops, instant chat messaging and telephone calls—
the potential for collaboration is virtually endless. Given the sheer number of technology-supported
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collaboration options that exist, what’s more important than the technology itself is our ability to select
the right mode of collaboration for the outcome that we want to achieve and the people involved. It can
be helpful, then, to think of technology-supported collaboration in terms of continua:
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synchronous to asynchronous interactions
face-to-face to more text-based collaborations, and
interactions that are internal to the firm and external to the firm.
This is truly a case where the technology must serve the desired outcomes: it’s no point providing clients
with iPads to enable virtual meetings with web conferencing technology if they do not have wireless
internet at their home or office. And email might be a great way of confirming a meeting booking, but
unencrypted email is not the place to be collaborating on legal strategy or dealing with particularly
sensitive matters. We suggest using the continua above to think through the typical collaborative
outcomes you need to achieve in your practice and then have a toolkit of collaboration tools available,
which you can experiment with and adapt to your needs and style.
Collaboration tools include: Google Docs, Acrobat, MS Word, SharePoint, Office 365, MS Lync, Webex,
Skype, GoToMeeting, VoIP Telephones and many more.
Remote Access
Remote access to email is ubiquitous, but what about access to other firm resources? Managed well,
remote access provides a legal team with the tools they need to do their jobs well—often when and where
they are most productive. Email and telephone are part of this equation, but it can extend to legal research
tools, collaboration tools, and document management and assembly tools discussed earlier. Remote
access can help lawyers be more productive and responsive to the needs of their clients, supports
asynchronous and remote collaboration, reduce unnecessary interruptions to the work of others in the
firm, while saving money and reducing the risk of printing and transporting confidential and sensitive
client information.
There are a range of tools that enable this kind of access to firm systems. One facet of remote access that
we have been pleased to benefit from is the flexibility it provides to our lawyers. This flexibility helps our
firm to support their lives beyond practicing law, and enables them to support the firm’s clients when
their needs require us to provide services outside of what might typically be thought of as business hours.
Remote access, then, is not about technology but what it enables: timely, responsive, flexible provision of
effective legal services in ways that make sense to the people who provide and receive them.
Remote access solutions include: Virtual Private Networking (VPN), GoToMyPC, LogMeIn,
TeamViewer, Mobility Tips.
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