Digital White Papers

ILTA WHITE PAPER: NOVEMBER 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 20 (MFP) devices or by facilities management staff in a copy center. Scanning vendors have developed tools to assist those who perform scanning to direct the output to the correct storage, especially to get the documents to a DMS. Key issues in the organization of stored files are location, correct matter identification and detailed descriptive names. A lawyer must work with those who assist him to ensure scanned documents are named and catalogued correctly and consistently with the needs of the individual lawyer and the practice. The list of recently scanned documents in the DMS can be viewed by a lawyer or assistant to check on naming and profiling, especially if the scanning itself is performed by other staff, or if it is not practical to enter detailed descriptive names at the scanner. Destroying paper copies seems risky. What if there are errors in the scanning or storage process? There are no perfect systems, and lawyers always must have procedures that protect against and correct errors. However, errors that exist in paper filing systems, such as misfiled documents or documents incorrectly reassembled after copying, can take significant effort to identify and correct. A scanning and storage process should incorporate a quality assurance program, including confirmation that the number of pages scanned matches the number of pages stored and that pages scanned correctly. Here, too, the list of recently scanned documents provides a tool for managing and confirming quality control. These problems also exist when copying documents without scanning. The need to check the scans or copies for errors, such as misfed pages, needs to be part of any scanning or copying process. Don't we need paper copies in case of litigation? While some documents must be retained as originals in litigation (see question one), most document productions comprise copies. For copies that might be provided in discovery or at trial, the record of the chain of custody of the documents is very important. A scanning procedure that includes an audit log of the date and time of scanning and the identity of those responsible creates critical information for the chain of custody at the individual document level. The scanning and storage procedure can be configured to protect documents from tampering by restricting the security and activity permissions. The activity record in a DMS or litigation support system also saves critical chain of custody information. The audit logs in these systems can also serve as evidence that the documents have been protected from tampering or damage from the time they were first scanned. It's not efficient for me to scan documents myself. How will the people who do the scanning know how I like to organize my files? Though some lawyers use personal desktop scanners to make it easy for them to work with small items, most of the scanning effort should be performed by assistants at nearby multifunction peripheral TOP 12 OBJECTIONS TO SCANNING AND DESTROYING PAPER A scanning procedure that includes an audit log of the date and time of scanning and the identity of those responsible creates critical information for the chain of custody at the individual document level.

• Cover