The Connecticut Elder Law Blog

The Benefits of a Technology-Oriented Practice (Part 2 of 2)

I have also become a big fan of "eFax", which is a service that converts all of your incoming faxes into e-mails. It also allows you to send out faxes as PDF attachments to e-mail messages. There are a couple of big benefits to this set-up. First, it allows me to review incoming faxes from anywhere that I have access to e-mail (which is just about anywhere...more on that below) and I don't have to be standing in front of a fax machine in the office to get a fax. Second, for a nominal monthly fee I end up saving the cost of buying a fax machine, toner, paper and the need to set up a separate fax phone line. These are big overhead cost savings that I pass onto clients with lower fees.

Then there is perhaps my best technology investment yet: an AT&T Treo 680 "smart phone". This relatively small handheld device allows me to make phone calls, work on e-mail and Word documents and browse the web wherever I am, as long as I have cell phone reception. It also contains my calendar, contact information and daily task list. It's hard to believe that a device small enough to fit in your pants pocket can do all of this, but it's true. My smart phone allows me to keep in constant contact with my clients, paralegals and colleagues even though I am out of the office a great deal visiting homebound clients and attending probate court hearings. My clients are often pleasantly surprised at how quickly I return their voicemail and e-mail messages.

By the way, I am actually drafting this post with my Treo as I am sitting here waiting to get called into a probate court hearing!

There are other very helpful technology tools in my office, but these are the big-ticket items. To borrow a term from a TV commercial, my office is not your grandfather's, or even your father's law office. I'll admit, not handling paper files has taken some getting used to. But if you look at the cost-saving factor, the ease-of-use for this kind if technology and the way in which it can dramatically improve the speed and quality of services for clients, it's hard to imagine practicing law in any other way.

The Benefits of a Technology-Oriented Law Practice (Part 1 of 2)

The relatively unique set-up of my law practice has piqued the interest of many of my clients and their family members. So I thought I would take a brief respite from blogging about legal issues and explain the nuts and bolts of my practice and why I've decided to incorporate lots of office technology into the day-to-day operations.

First, and most importantly, I have adopted a "paperless" model for my office (although, "less paper" would be a more accurate term since at least some paper is always necessary). This means that I do not actually have paper files for my clients. Those towers of manilla folders that you usually see piled up on the floor of an attorney's office does not exist in my practice. Every single document that comes into, or goes out of my office (letters, deeds, hand-written notes, etc.) is "scanned" and converted into a digital "PDF" file, which is then saved in the appropriate client's digital "folder" on my computer.

What are the benefits? First and foremost, my client files are much safer than they would be if they were in a paper format. How? Well, think about this: if I had a traditional, paper-based law practice and my office went up in flames, or if there was a flood then that would be the end of my practice...all of my files would be irretrievably lost. But with my paperless office, my files stay safe in the event of a disaster. I have a system in place which backs up all of my files to multiple locations every 24 hours. So if my computer explodes I can simply restore all of my files onto a different computer and I'm up-and-running again pretty quickly.

Another big advantage of an all-digital office is the ease with which documents can be retrieved. If a client signs a living will and then suddenly needs a copy a year later, I can have the signed document on my computer screen within a few mouse clicks. A few more clicks and the document is off to the client via e-mail. In a traditional law office, the year-old file must be hunted down, the document needs to be fished out of the file and then mailed off to the client (or faxed, ideally), all of which could take a VERY long time. And if the file has been stored at an off-site facility, then forget it...it will be days before the client can get a copy of his document.

There are all kinds of office technology available now that allows attorneys to dramatically enhance the quality of the legal services they provide. In the next post I'll discuss some other ways in which I've implemented this technology into my practice.