Digital White Papers

ILTA WHITE PAPER: NOVEMBER 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 21 I know exactly where my paper documents are. Having to find them on our network will just waste time. Perhaps the most important issue raised by this question arises from the word "I." Yes, one lawyer might find it easy to locate documents from a paper file with which they are personally familiar. Will their colleagues find it as easily, or will they waste time seeking documents that are misfiled, unfiled or checked out to a colleague? What about when the lawyer is offsite? Can that lawyer access the paper file while working remotely in court, at home or during travel? The answer to that question must be "yes." I have practiced too long to change the way I work so radically. In 2016 and the years to come, lawyers must be prepared to work in a world of rapid and disruptive change. When necessary, take lessons from children and grandchildren. Trade the litigation bag full of papers for a tablet with scanned documents. Your lower back surely will appreciate it. When I need to study a file thoroughly, I need to see it on paper. Why scan and store when I will want to print the documents to study them anyway? Won't I be wasting more paper then? Lawyers often photocopy paper documents to create a working copy they can use for analysis, markups and notes (as they should to retain the original document's integrity). Doing so from a scanned document still reduces paper. Instead of two copies of a paper document, there is one copy and one scanned file. Also, the benefits from studying files on screen are growing, and doing so is becoming more efficient. The high resolution available on tablet devices often exceeds that of computer monitors. Tablets also can make reading documents more natural to those familiar with paper, especially with tactile interaction with the contents. Isn't paper more secure? It seems a new data breach is front-page news every day. Data security is a concern that must be recognized and managed by law practices. Disaster recovery, however, is facilitated by electronic storage. Paper files can get damaged in disasters as mundane as a burst water pipe or as dramatic as a fire, Hurricane Katrina or Tropical Storm Sandy. Meanwhile, backups of electronic documents can be stored safely offsite. Doesn't it make more sense to scan and return the originals to the client rather than shred them? It can be very helpful to establish the rules for handling documents with a client at the beginning of an engagement. It can also be helpful to reinforce expectations when documents are requested. When documents have been provided by a client, returning them to the client after scanning can save effort at the completion of the engagement or representation. A lawyer and client should address these issues explicitly before or when the client provides documents to the lawyer. The effort to resolve issues becomes more difficult as time passes and knowledge about the documents becomes stale. If my representation ends, can I meet my responsibilities to return files with only scanned versions of documents? Unless a physical original is required (see question one), a scanned copy should meet the responsibility to return files. TOP 12 OBJECTIONS TO SCANNING AND DESTROYING PAPER

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