* Documents will always been an important part of practicing law. In our current digital age are bombarded with more files, in more formats, than ever before. How to organize, cull and retain information has rapidly become one of the most complex issues facing attorneys today. Most legal documents cannot simply be shredded at the conclusion of a trial. Federal discovery rules are now more complex and stringent than ever. In such an environment, it is crucial to have a way to backup your legal files and to have a strategy to store them securely and access them as needed. A professional document scanning service can ease the burden of what to do with all those files.
Converting paper documents into a digital format seems simple enough. After all, nearly all offices have a scanner. How difficult can it be? Well, ‘difficult’ may be an understatement. Not only to you have to consider the equipment you have, and its’ limitations on document processing, but are you maximizing the use of your staffs’ time? Often times it costs you more money in time and resources to “do it yourself” instead of relying on a scanning service. Many firms fail at in-house scanning methods due to the following:
- A lack of understanding of conversion techniques and processes
- Equipment not designed for high volume work
- Insufficient time to get the task done
- Taking time away from your staffs’ billable hours
- Administrative constraints
In today’s fast paced legal environment, lawyers are rapidly producing and storing a colossal amount of paper on a daily basis. A professional document scanning company understands how important your legal client files are and has an understanding of the complexities of the legal arena. You should be confident your project is being handled with accuracy and confidentiality. A scanning company should be able to provide you with a variety of services to include OCR and load files. Your chosen provider should also be HIPPA certified, which guarantees your documents will always be handled with the utmost of confidentiality.
A professional legal document scanning company can help you efficiently complete a large scale back file conversion. Any worries you may have will be put at ease, knowing that your project is being managed with the latest technology and scanning equipment. By utilizing a professional scanning company, you project will be managed by a industry professional who will be supported by an experienced team making the whole process stress-free.
The key elements of a scanning project may include:
- Document preparation
- Indexing
- Scanning and conversion
- Image adjustment and verification
- Optical character resolution (OCR)
- Data migration/merge
- File reassembly
- BATES stamping
- Load file creation
Archived and live client paper documents can be converted into digital format for easy storage and retrieval. Digital images can be output to a variety of formats to include pdf, jpeg, or tiff. Additionally, your provider can make images available via a secure online repository for quick and easy retrieval.
Documents can be OCR’d to enhance usability. OCR is a special function that allows your scanner to recognize text in any images it scans. During this process the scanner creates “text” searchable PDFs from the documents it scans. This capability is important since an increasing number of courts will only accept searchable PDFs as electronic filings. OCR’ing a document also allows you to perform text searches within the document itself and to copy and paste the text into other documents you are working on.
Your documents can also be BATES stamped. Your provider should be able to add a customizable BATES stamp that includes the case reference number, surname, or court date to ensure you can find them quickly and easily using simple keyword terms.
As e-discovery programs become more widely used, a professional scanning service should be able to produce a “load” file of your scanned documents. Load files allow you to import, or “load,” your scanned documents directly into your e-discovery program. Having your scanning service provide you with the load files saves your time, and eliminates frustration trying to convert your newly scanned pdfs into opt or dll files.
Documents will always be the foundation of the legal industry. By choosing an experienced scanning company you can keep your focus on managing your case strategy, and take your worry off how you’re going to get through, review, and store that bankers box of documents.*
For more information about Naegeli Deposition & Trial, visit www.naegeliusa.com
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Benjamin J. Roy | Client Relations Executive NAEGELI Deposition and Trial Benjamin@NaegeliUSA.com | NaegeliUSA.com 601 Union Street, Suite 1624, Seattle, WA 98101 SEATTLE (206) 622-3376| NATIONAL (800) 528-3335 Celebrating 35 Years of Excellence! |