File and Records Management

Beverly Michaelis

Professional Liability Fund

How Much Time Is Wasted Searching for Documents?

0 Minutes

10 Minutes?

30 Minutes or More?

41%

37%

Daily?

Yearly?

Objective Corporation Survey – 2005 / Published on Goliath-Business Knowledge on Demand

3½ Weeks!

What Do We Lose?

Why Do We Lose It?

Office Procedures

Enforcement

Training

1. Paper Filing Systems

2. Digital Filing Systems

3. File Closing

4. File Retention and Destruction

5. Special Concerns

Topics

Paper Filing Systems

Supplies and Color Coding

Find Common Patterns

Keep it Chronological

Document Your Structure

Adjust for Each Practice Area

File Structures That Work!

Form Good Habits

1. Indexed?

2. Secured?

3. Organized?

4. Stored?

Be a Filer, Not a Piler

“Friends Don’t Let Friends Print E-Mail.”

Digital Filing Systems

Inbound Documents

Paper ArrivesDate

StampedScanned to

PDF

OCR

Applied

Entered into Database

Forwarded Electronically

Fate of Paper is Decided

Outbound Documents

Electronic File Created

Saved to eFolder

eSignedEntered into

Database

Sent to Client

Electronic SignaturesThe Cloud v. The Machine

Minimal or No Paper Files

Scan and eFile

Shred

Send to Client

Chron File

Technology

Document Management Software

Case Management Software

Desktop Search Engines

The Electronic File Butler

File Closing

7 Keys to File Closing

1. Closing letter sent

2. Client originals returned

3. File intact

4. Electronic documents captured

5. Destruction date assigned

6. Final bill or refund issued

7. And …

File Retention

Keep All Files 10 Years

Capture Electronic Data

File Destruction

Special Concerns

The Client Wants Her File…

Can We Charge for Copies?

Can We Withhold the File?

And Last

But Not Least …

“Clever is the Pessimist, for She Makes Backups.”

Our Goal

Sound Office Procedures

Enforced via Technology

Staff Trained