Arguably, there is not a person in the corporate or legal workforce today who has not read about or attended a workshop on how to increase productivity. Whether it is by offering classical project oversight training or workshops on how to more efficiently manage one’s workstation, all employers want their employees to be as efficient as possible. One of the things that can slow a company’s workflow down to a snail’s pace is a document management system that is counterintuitive, and therein, inefficient.
Increasingly, more and more corporate departments and the firms with which they work are moving to digital filing and management. That is, the days of having a document move from desk to desk and then into one of a set of massive filing cabinets are quickly fading away. Now, a hardcopy of a document may make its way to the courthouse, but it will routinely be filed and stored away in a digital format accessible by all necessary parties.
However, a digital management system will be no better than the paper-based system that preceded it if it is not designed and configured for user usability and efficiency. For years, project management gurus warned against allowing the “to be filed” stack to grow any larger than 3-4 sheets of paper. Yet, in many offices, grow they did, because the task of dealing with drawer after drawer of filing cabinets where files were jam packed or slipping out of hanging folders was too dreadful to bear. Unless a document management approach improves upon such a system, it will be no less onerous, digitized or not.
One way to eliminate the arduous task of managing every legal document pertinent to your business is to implement a management system that provides all users with tools that enable communication between your in-house legal team and the firm that represents your company. In addition, all members of your staff who might handle any sort of legal document or need to be in the loop regarding legal matters can be trained in such a system so that everyone, from the person who helps to prepare briefs to the person who will digitally file those briefs, is on the same page.
It is said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. While it is true that the world of legal document management has changed by leaps and bounds over the last several decades, it is equally true that companies, their legal departments, and the attorneys that represent them can only be as efficient as the tools they have at hand. Make sure that your company or firm has the most efficient tools possible by incorporating a fully integrated management system into your workforce.
Datacert is a technology innovator and the premier global provider of enterprise legal management software and services that empower law departments to collaborate more effectively, manage legal systems more efficiently, support changing business needs and their global workforces, and make more strategic business decisions. Datacert’s Legal Document Management offerings include its flagship product, Passport®, a patent-pending technology platform, and legal spend and matter management applications. Datacert solutions are relied upon by Fortune® 500 corporations, Fortune® Global 500 corporations, and 100 percent of the AmLaw 200. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Datacert has offices throughout North America, EMEA, and APAC, and thousands of law firm, vendor, and agent connections around the world.
