Law Firm Merges Case Management Software With OCR Index To Enhance Productivity And Collaboration
Scenario
Law firms are believed to use more paper than any other type of business. The average mid-size firm in the United States employs between 10-20 attorneys. If each attorney works a 50 hour work week, they’re generating over 20,000 sheets of paper per week. Controlling paper consumption, as well as integrating case management software effectively into their workflow, is a challenge that most law firms face.
For the last 4 years, Stone’s has offered consulting services to a local Richmond legal firm. When they first partnered, the initial solution was geared towards improving workflow. After learning about their daily processes and understanding their specific needs, Stone’s decided to implement a solution that would scan and convert documents into an OCR index for easy search and retrieval.
As the firm grew, they sought to improve their processes for creating and sharing documents. They were unable to merge documents from multiple file types into a single document. Their process was tedious, time-consuming and generated way too much paper.
Did You Know?
- On average, each attorney in a typical law firm generates up to 100,000 sheets of paper per year.
- Attorneys use about 10-50 sheets of copier/printer paper per hour. This equates to around a sheet of paper per minute.
Plan, Solutions & Results:
During a consultation, Stone’s realized what their client needed was a merged system between the indexed OCR files and their case management software. Stone’s decided that by upgrading the case management software, they could integrate the tools and features of their OCR index with the software. The goal was to improve the process efficiency of generating documents while still providing attorneys a simplified way to search, retrieve, edit, share and collaborate on the documents they create.
By identifying inefficiencies, locating areas for improvement and thinking outside of the box, Stone’s came up with a comprehensive solution to direct all of the firms day to day processes through the firms’ case management software. Stone’s client is now able to balance the growht of their firm, control expenses and paper consumption, all while improving productivity and collaboration between attorneys.