Mastering And Managing Documents

The attorney's own realm is no different from any other revenue-generating quarter — e-commerce or good old-fashioned bricks and cement — in one truism of the Technology Age: Document management is the most daunting challenge for today's law office. Regardless of the size of the law firm, mountains of file folders and forests of paper are piling up daily in every law office as quickly, and as momentously, as in the offices of their clients. Traditionally, the answer to this challenge has been to hire more clerical staff, more paralegals, and more attorneys and then to scramble to assess and assign outsourcing contracts to help erode some of the paper mountains popping up all around the legal-office landscape.

But that response has been less than optimal because the information contained in the documents and, in the area of litigation, handlers' knowledge of the evidence, has become disparate and widely distributed among many people. A more desirable document-management schema is one in which each person responsible for exercising or acquiring knowledge of a particular matter knows all the vital information and all the critical documents.

That being the case, the only way to master the evidence in a meaningful way is through document-management software or a workable, reliable Web-based system. These systems give each member of a law-practice group or litigation team easy access to the same knowledge base. One main goal of using document-management software is to eliminate endless search missions for the documents or files. An appropriately configured system provides immediate relief to staff from carrying boxes of documents, and makes attorneys' and other authorized personnel's laptops portals that provide instant access to every document, even in cases involving millions of pages.

A firm shouldn't seek only a document-management solution that will enhance productivity, but also one that is dynamic and user friendly.

Shoot for Optimal

There are countless examples of law firms that decide to invest in document-management technology only to find later that learning to use it is too time-consuming. Training time is long, and most lawyers and staff don't have weeks of time to devote to learning a system. The features of these tools, while certainly attractive, are hard to use and remember. Functionality may be based on archaic architecture and complicated by legacy issues. These shortcomings all conspire to make some software document solutions unusable except by a few, seasoned, tech-savvy employees.

The first software-selection hurdle to clear, then, is to find document-management software that is so simple to use that lawyers will actually use it in their everyday practice. It's true: Simplicity of use translates into actual use. Simplicity of use also equals less training time, and fewer lost billable hours and productivity. And simplicity of use makes any qualified and authorized person in the practice group a master of all the documents and evidence. With firm utilization increased with ease of use, lawyers and staff should be able to master millions of pages of evidence with the click of a mouse.

But keep in mind that simplicity of use involves functionality and the style of the interface. The system should give the administrative or document-store manager greater control and flexibility over the design and implementation of the document store. The administrator should have the flexibility to:

• Create new user fields;
• Assign the new user fields to categories;
• Generate lookup lists for fields;
• Specify format rules; and
• Assign icons to categories.

The look of the interface should be inviting and familiar, and the real estate easily navigable.

Be sure to ensure that the software selected will quickly and efficiently collect, organize, annotate and research electronic media, documents, images and other manifestations of data that may be required. The goal is for users to be able to word-search or field-search an entire database. The ability to customize a database or databases is also important, and scanning documents into the desired place on workers' desktops should be quick and easy.

Important Fields are Crucial

From a features standpoint, the software's document stores should support an unlimited number of named user fields. User fields should be able to be defined to contain a certain type of data (eg, numeric, date and text) as well as format enforcement and lookup-list creation. User-field usage should be streamlined and simplified by not re-using the same user field to store different kinds of data between multiple categories.

Law firms have several commonly needed fields. Those that should be included as standard or built-in fields are:

• Title;
• Document type;
• Case name;
• Case style;
• Cause number;
• Jurisdiction;
• State;
• Party;
• Name;
• Attorney;
• Firm;
• Received date; 
• From;
• To;
• Subject; and
• Attached to.

Employees should be able to remove or configure these fields in the same way that the other user-defined fields are.

Other Useful Powerful Features

The document-management software selected should allow personnel to quickly retrieve, search for, index and edit documents. System capacity should easily accommodate millions of documents while reducing hardware requirements on servers and client machines.

It's useful to have a system that easily shows documents that haven't been read in a different presentation than documents that have been read. All documents returned by either a quick or saved search can appear as unread until the user has viewed the document relative to those search results. In other words, if the same search were executed again, all of the resulting documents would appear as unread again. This helps the user keep up with which documents in the search results have been viewed and which have not. Users should also be able to “mark” documents as either read or unread.

Another feature to consider is the document viewer or previewer in the software system. How long does it take to open and display a .PDF document? Will users be able to highlight sections to place notes without a full version of Adobe Acrobat? This can be accomplished if the highlights and notes are stored by the system in the document store, rather than within the .PDF document itself, making it more secure and easier to produce the original documents without markups. Another desirable feature is the ability to select a rectangular region with the underlying text so it can be copied to a clipboard for transferring information to document fields or other applications.

Viewers should also allow users (with the appropriate rights) to mark rectangular regions for redaction. The regions should remain visible until they are published, where they can be “burned in” to the resulting document images. The originals, however, should remain preserved and unchanged. Versatile software should automatically convert documents to HTML for previewing when no suitable software is installed on the user's computer; the original document isn't altered. An option is that the user should have the flexibility to specify that certain document types be converted to HTML for previewing, even when a suitable viewer is installed on that user's computer. Users should also be able to highlight document text-search hits in all types of documents, including Word, WordPerfect, Access, PowerPoint and any other type of searchable document, even if that user has no software installed that is capable of displaying that document type.

Getting the Word Out

Document publication should include the ability to convert document formats, document page-stamping, watermarking, redaction burn-in, third-party application load-file generation and removable media (CD/DVD) sets. Any document-stamping feature should be flexible enough to be a static or calculated value, based on values stored in the database, or combinations of those factors. Examples include the ability to create:

• A document number — a sequential value incremented per document produced;
• A document label — a sequential value describing the document as “Document # of #”;
• A page number — a sequential value incremented per page, per document produced;
• A page label — a sequential value describing the document as “Page # of #”;
• A folder name — the name of the folder that the document being produced resides in;
• A store name — the name of the document store from which the document is being produced;
• A store ID — a unique identifier assigned to a document store when it's created;
• A username — of the user creating the publication;
• A group name — the name of the practice group to which the user creating the publication belongs;
• A short date — the date of publication in the format MM/DD/YYYY;
• A long date — the date of publication in the format Month/DD/YYYY;
• Data values — values derived from information stored about the documents and the activities performed on those documents, including filename, file, file path, full path, storage path, Bates start prefix, Bates start number, Bates end prefix and Bates end number; and
• Field values — values that users have entered during data entry.

Going From Format to Format

A state-of-the-art document-management system needs to include a diversified document-format conversion, so that documents can be converted as they are published from .PDF to any of the scores of formats commonly encountered. Similarly, it's necessary to have versatile load-file generation so that generic and third-party applications and specific load-file formats can be generated during publication. Destination media settings are also important so that the user can specify the destination media to which the publication will eventually be produced. The publication feature should automatically segment the output files so that they will fit on the destination media type.

One feature to look for is a process that allows users to mark an “issue” or similar category as available for all to see without regard to which workgroup the other users are members. This is also demonstrated by “issues” that are automatically generated lists for retrieving documents without having to perform a lengthy and complicated search.

Searching for documents should be simple and easy, and the tool being used powerful. Users should be able to let other users see and execute their searches. The document text-searching should be able to be performed as an “any words,” “all words,” or “Boolean search.” Adding or acquiring documents should be simple, too, such as using a “drag-n-drop” feature that automatically extracts the “to,” “from,” “subject” and “body” to the user-specified fields. The user should also be able to select multiple files from his desktop or Internet application, select copy, and then navigate to the desired folder in the document-management system, then paste those documents into the document store.

An exciting timesaving feature to look for is Doculex Goby Capture Integration, with which documents can easily be scanned, input with optical character recognition, converted to .PDF or be added to a document store by pressing a single button on a multi-function product. Scanned documents that appear in that folder are automatically and instantly processed, and then routed to the appropriate document store.

Any excellent document-management system should also adequately address user management and security. The software should provide multiple security levels, or roles, such as Edit Filenames, Print Documents, Publish Documents, Index Manager, Store Manager, Category Manager, Document Redaction, View Recycle Bin, Empty Recycle Bin and Restore Recycle Bin. And the system should make it easy for an administrator to create a new user based on the settings of one that already exists in the document store. Third-party application-integration and support also are vital functions of any document-management software. Gen-erally this means full or partial integration or support of popular legal software applications.

There are really only a handful of products on the market for any law firm to consider. Nonetheless, efficient document- and evidence-management is the heart of the state-of-the-art law practice. The right software will empower attorneys in depositions, instill confidence in them during hearings and be the decisive edge that they need to succeed at trial. It will also make the in-office practitioner more productive.

The attorney's own realm is no different from any other revenue-generating quarter — e-commerce or good old-fashioned bricks and cement — in one truism of the Technology Age: Document management is the most daunting challenge for today's law office. Regardless of the size of the law firm, mountains of file folders and forests of paper are piling up daily in every law office as quickly, and as momentously, as in the offices of their clients. Traditionally, the answer to this challenge has been to hire more clerical staff, more paralegals, and more attorneys and then to scramble to assess and assign outsourcing contracts to help erode some of the paper mountains popping up all around the legal-office landscape.

But that response has been less than optimal because the information contained in the documents and, in the area of litigation, handlers' knowledge of the evidence, has become disparate and widely distributed among many people. A more desirable document-management schema is one in which each person responsible for exercising or acquiring knowledge of a particular matter knows all the vital information and all the critical documents.

That being the case, the only way to master the evidence in a meaningful way is through document-management software or a workable, reliable Web-based system. These systems give each member of a law-practice group or litigation team easy access to the same knowledge base. One main goal of using document-management software is to eliminate endless search missions for the documents or files. An appropriately configured system provides immediate relief to staff from carrying boxes of documents, and makes attorneys' and other authorized personnel's laptops portals that provide instant access to every document, even in cases involving millions of pages.

A firm shouldn't seek only a document-management solution that will enhance productivity, but also one that is dynamic and user friendly.

Shoot for Optimal

There are countless examples of law firms that decide to invest in document-management technology only to find later that learning to use it is too time-consuming. Training time is long, and most lawyers and staff don't have weeks of time to devote to learning a system. The features of these tools, while certainly attractive, are hard to use and remember. Functionality may be based on archaic architecture and complicated by legacy issues. These shortcomings all conspire to make some software document solutions unusable except by a few, seasoned, tech-savvy employees.

The first software-selection hurdle to clear, then, is to find document-management software that is so simple to use that lawyers will actually use it in their everyday practice. It's true: Simplicity of use translates into actual use. Simplicity of use also equals less training time, and fewer lost billable hours and productivity. And simplicity of use makes any qualified and authorized person in the practice group a master of all the documents and evidence. With firm utilization increased with ease of use, lawyers and staff should be able to master millions of pages of evidence with the click of a mouse.

But keep in mind that simplicity of use involves functionality and the style of the interface. The system should give the administrative or document-store manager greater control and flexibility over the design and implementation of the document store. The administrator should have the flexibility to:

• Create new user fields;
• Assign the new user fields to categories;
• Generate lookup lists for fields;
• Specify format rules; and
• Assign icons to categories.

The look of the interface should be inviting and familiar, and the real estate easily navigable.

Be sure to ensure that the software selected will quickly and efficiently collect, organize, annotate and research electronic media, documents, images and other manifestations of data that may be required. The goal is for users to be able to word-search or field-search an entire database. The ability to customize a database or databases is also important, and scanning documents into the desired place on workers' desktops should be quick and easy.

Important Fields are Crucial

From a features standpoint, the software's document stores should support an unlimited number of named user fields. User fields should be able to be defined to contain a certain type of data (eg, numeric, date and text) as well as format enforcement and lookup-list creation. User-field usage should be streamlined and simplified by not re-using the same user field to store different kinds of data between multiple categories.

Law firms have several commonly needed fields. Those that should be included as standard or built-in fields are:

• Title;
• Document type;
• Case name;
• Case style;
• Cause number;
• Jurisdiction;
• State;
• Party;
• Name;
• Attorney;
• Firm;
• Received date; 
• From;
• To;
• Subject; and
• Attached to.

Employees should be able to remove or configure these fields in the same way that the other user-defined fields are.

Other Useful Powerful Features

The document-management software selected should allow personnel to quickly retrieve, search for, index and edit documents. System capacity should easily accommodate millions of documents while reducing hardware requirements on servers and client machines.

It's useful to have a system that easily shows documents that haven't been read in a different presentation than documents that have been read. All documents returned by either a quick or saved search can appear as unread until the user has viewed the document relative to those search results. In other words, if the same search were executed again, all of the resulting documents would appear as unread again. This helps the user keep up with which documents in the search results have been viewed and which have not. Users should also be able to “mark” documents as either read or unread.

Another feature to consider is the document viewer or previewer in the software system. How long does it take to open and display a .PDF document? Will users be able to highlight sections to place notes without a full version of Adobe Acrobat? This can be accomplished if the highlights and notes are stored by the system in the document store, rather than within the .PDF document itself, making it more secure and easier to produce the original documents without markups. Another desirable feature is the ability to select a rectangular region with the underlying text so it can be copied to a clipboard for transferring information to document fields or other applications.

Viewers should also allow users (with the appropriate rights) to mark rectangular regions for redaction. The regions should remain visible until they are published, where they can be “burned in” to the resulting document images. The originals, however, should remain preserved and unchanged. Versatile software should automatically convert documents to HTML for previewing when no suitable software is installed on the user's computer; the original document isn't altered. An option is that the user should have the flexibility to specify that certain document types be converted to HTML for previewing, even when a suitable viewer is installed on that user's computer. Users should also be able to highlight document text-search hits in all types of documents, including Word, WordPerfect, Access, PowerPoint and any other type of searchable document, even if that user has no software installed that is capable of displaying that document type.

Getting the Word Out

Document publication should include the ability to convert document formats, document page-stamping, watermarking, redaction burn-in, third-party application load-file generation and removable media (CD/DVD) sets. Any document-stamping feature should be flexible enough to be a static or calculated value, based on values stored in the database, or combinations of those factors. Examples include the ability to create:

• A document number — a sequential value incremented per document produced;
• A document label — a sequential value describing the document as “Document # of #”;
• A page number — a sequential value incremented per page, per document produced;
• A page label — a sequential value describing the document as “Page # of #”;
• A folder name — the name of the folder that the document being produced resides in;
• A store name — the name of the document store from which the document is being produced;
• A store ID — a unique identifier assigned to a document store when it's created;
• A username — of the user creating the publication;
• A group name — the name of the practice group to which the user creating the publication belongs;
• A short date — the date of publication in the format MM/DD/YYYY;
• A long date — the date of publication in the format Month/DD/YYYY;
• Data values — values derived from information stored about the documents and the activities performed on those documents, including filename, file, file path, full path, storage path, Bates start prefix, Bates start number, Bates end prefix and Bates end number; and
• Field values — values that users have entered during data entry.

Going From Format to Format

A state-of-the-art document-management system needs to include a diversified document-format conversion, so that documents can be converted as they are published from .PDF to any of the scores of formats commonly encountered. Similarly, it's necessary to have versatile load-file generation so that generic and third-party applications and specific load-file formats can be generated during publication. Destination media settings are also important so that the user can specify the destination media to which the publication will eventually be produced. The publication feature should automatically segment the output files so that they will fit on the destination media type.

One feature to look for is a process that allows users to mark an “issue” or similar category as available for all to see without regard to which workgroup the other users are members. This is also demonstrated by “issues” that are automatically generated lists for retrieving documents without having to perform a lengthy and complicated search.

Searching for documents should be simple and easy, and the tool being used powerful. Users should be able to let other users see and execute their searches. The document text-searching should be able to be performed as an “any words,” “all words,” or “Boolean search.” Adding or acquiring documents should be simple, too, such as using a “drag-n-drop” feature that automatically extracts the “to,” “from,” “subject” and “body” to the user-specified fields. The user should also be able to select multiple files from his desktop or Internet application, select copy, and then navigate to the desired folder in the document-management system, then paste those documents into the document store.

An exciting timesaving feature to look for is Doculex Goby Capture Integration, with which documents can easily be scanned, input with optical character recognition, converted to .PDF or be added to a document store by pressing a single button on a multi-function product. Scanned documents that appear in that folder are automatically and instantly processed, and then routed to the appropriate document store.

Any excellent document-management system should also adequately address user management and security. The software should provide multiple security levels, or roles, such as Edit Filenames, Print Documents, Publish Documents, Index Manager, Store Manager, Category Manager, Document Redaction, View Recycle Bin, Empty Recycle Bin and Restore Recycle Bin. And the system should make it easy for an administrator to create a new user based on the settings of one that already exists in the document store. Third-party application-integration and support also are vital functions of any document-management software. Gen-erally this means full or partial integration or support of popular legal software applications.

There are really only a handful of products on the market for any law firm to consider. Nonetheless, efficient document- and evidence-management is the heart of the state-of-the-art law practice. The right software will empower attorneys in depositions, instill confidence in them during hearings and be the decisive edge that they need to succeed at trial. It will also make the in-office practitioner more productive.