Legal Document Scanning Defined
Legal document scanning is the process of converting physical, paper-based legal records into a digital format. This allows for easier storage, searching, and sharing of legal documents while reducing the need for physical storage space. In the legal sector, paper-heavy processes have traditionally required massive amounts of physical space and resources to manage, from filing cabinets and sorting equipment to postage and delivery.
In leveraging advanced scanning technology, paperless digital workflows can be adopted that save time and money over their physical counterparts. With legal document scanning, lawyers no longer need to concern themselves with tracking down specific documents or digging through unwanted paperwork. Every document, drawing, file, binders, and book can be permanently imaged and indexed for secure, long-term storage. The information contained in the original documents is replicated in the digital version, while additional information can be added during the scan. Metadata such as client, matter, type of document , and date-time information can be added at the time of the scan.
By making the move to a digital-only platform – or as close as possible – legal firms free themselves from the costs associated with physical document storage. Digital files reduce the need to buy filing cabinets and off-site storage space. Later, they don’t need to pay for a shredding service to dispose of sensitive documents, since they are easily and permanently deleted from the document management system. Getting rid of the physical documents as soon as they are no longer needed cuts the costs associated with handling them at the end of their life cycle.
Legal document scanning is also excellent for improving productivity. Productivity is often lost in searching for documents that have been misfiled or lost. Implementing a digital repository organized around metadata makes it easy to find any document.
Having a digital document management system in place that stores, organizes, and delivers files also makes it a much less significant deal when there is a fire or flood. With a good document management system and an effective backup strategy in place, files can be restored in a very short time.
Legal Document Scanning Advantages
The ability to scan legal documents is one of the many conveniences of modern technology. You no longer need to have a filing system filled with paperwork and storage cabinets, filing cabinets, and bankers boxes. All that paper takes up lots of space in your office, and at the end of the month, at the end of the year, and at the end of your career you have to spend even more time sorting through mountains of paper. Scanning these documents saves space and time, and also enhances accessibility.
Organizing documents electronically is often more efficient than tracking down paper files. You can implement a logical filing system on your computer with folders and subfolders and create a simple method for locating a file or document. The only potential issue with this approach is trusting your employees or law firm members with the security of your data.
The most common security breach today is the loss of private and confidential information. Whether that information is lost due to a physical breach or lost due to a lack of online security, like an online hack, losing information can have catastrophic results. Office security and online security are typically pretty easy to patch up, assuming you aren’t the victim of a sophisticated hack job.
Why waste all that valuable space and time? Many paper documents must be stored for a specific amount of time, but since you’re relying on hard copies, you have to find a place to store the records. On digital forms, you can securely store most files on your server or use a secure cloud document scanning solution.
Opting for Legal Document Scanning Hardware
Choosing the right legal document scanning equipment can be a daunting process, with the enormous number of makes and models to choose from. There are three main factors you’ll want to take into consideration when selecting the proper scanning equipment for your office: resolution, speed, and compatibility with existing systems.
Almost all scanning equipment these days have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi, which is acceptable by the vast majority of courts and government agencies, while some scanners allow you to adjust the dpi setting upwards of 600dpi or higher. Higher dpi settings require larger image file sizes, and require more time to scan and transmit documents.
Using mixed paper types or sizes? It is recommended to use a scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF) for ease of use. An ADF will take multiple size and type paper stacks easily and allow the use of a variety of documents such as copies, passports, or folded documents. If your office is still using large paper stock please note that there are dedicated desktop scanners available for engineering drawings that have scanning beds up to 59" wide.
If you will only be scanning text documents, a standard flatbed scanner will probably suffice. These models are generally less expensive than high-speed document scanners and will be adequate for the majority of legal document scanning needs.
The speed of a scanner can generally be identified by looking at the rated output per minute. Scanning speeds range from 15ppm to over 100ppm. A 15-20ppm scanner will likely meet the scanning needs of most law offices. However, if fast legal document scanning is viewed as necessary, or if very large volumes of files exist, a high-speed, commercial grade scanner may be the best choice.
Last, but not least, take into consideration how quickly a scanner will integrate or work alongside your existing systems. For example, some document scanning software comes with specific scanner drivers that allow easy access to scanner-specific features. Other software may use a generic TWAIN driver to access the scanner. Additionally, most document management systems have their own software that can add icons to a desktop or browser to integrate the scanning process into the DMS.
Storing Legal Files Digitally
Digital storage solutions for legal files
Once you’ve scanned your files, the next step is deciding where to store them. There are a number of different options to choose from, which may include:
There are a number of considerations that will come into play when deciding which storage solution is right for you. You’ll need to weigh up costs, accessibility and types of security you’ll require to store that data safely.
Cloud solutions
Cloud computing has revolutionised the way we work, giving us access to our vital business information and data whenever we need it. Storing your scanned documents in the cloud gives you a powerful, fully flexible, 24/7 virtual filing room that only requires the touch of a button to open. You’ll have a virtual filing cabinet of all your files, which can then be easily accessed by staff on multiple devices. Editing and sharing files is quick and easy. Generally, cloud systems are fully secure and make compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles, as well as others such as GDPR and HIPPA, easier and better.
On-premise solutions
If you prefer the traditional method of keeping your files in-house, the files will take up valuable physical space for filing cabinets. You’ll also need to ensure adequate infrastructure, including a reliable server solution and maintenance.
What’s more, you should consider the level of hard copy physical security you’ll need to comply with surrounding privacy laws in your industry. This will likely include a high level of access controls that may involve locking cabinets or rooms, and ensuring you have a strict system in place for access to that information. User training is also essential if you plan on storing sensitive documents physically.
Compliance
Fundamentally, any storage solution you choose will need to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, along with any other local, national and international regulations relevant to your industry.
Regardless of which storage solution you opt for, taking responsibility for keeping your clients’ personal information private is an absolute must. In addition, you’ll need to ensure your management systems, file storage and processes are compliant with privacy legislation.
Legal Requirements for Document Scanning
Legal compliance issues are important to all law firms and hospitals, and it’s far more efficient to take those requirements into account during the planning phase of a legal document scanning or other data capture project than have to deal with them after the fact. Federal regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) in the US, as well as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) recently adopted in Europe, impose requirements for the handling of data.
HIPAA is one of the most well-known regulations, and relates to the protection of patient data in the health care field. For example, HIPAA requires that PHI (protected health information) be stored securely, either on paper (in a locked file room) or electronically (PDFs must be password protected and encrypted) . Audit logs must be implemented that produce a list of who has access to what, and what actions they are carrying out.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley, also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, relates to the protection of consumer financial information, and applies to financial institutions and a wide range of financial service providers. GLBA requires financial institutions to develop a written information security plan; train employees in the security plan; transmit information securely; share information only with third party affiliates that can provide proof of proper information security systems; oversee operations from service provider to ensure they are secure; and properly destroy data.
GDPR, a new EU data privacy regulation that comes into force in mid-2018, imposes restrictions for organizations processing personal data within the European Union.
Legal Document Scanning Best Practices
To ensure the quality and integrity of your legal documents, there are a few best practices when it comes to scanning. One, is to prepare before you scan. Dirty documents create dirty scans, so make sure to remove staples, clips, and paper clips prior to scanning. Next, ponder the order of the pages, as reordering will take more time than it will save you. Arrange them in the file format you’d like to keep them in and well as in order. It’s important to save yourself some time in the long run. Lastly, clean your scanner glass. Grime on your scanner can transfer onto your printed image.
It’s also important to use OCR technology. OCR stands for optical character recognition and basically is a fancy way of saying "I can make any scan searchable". By installing OCR technology on your scanner or using third-party OCR software, you’ll be able to search for specific words or phrases within your scanned documents. OCR software will allow users to use keywords to search through files, enabling them to find any important information easily.
Quality assurance is another factor in best practices. Checking for content quality is very important, as you would not want to publish a document with the wrong page order, missing pages, or pages that are not scanned properly. Your quality assurance checklist should contain all the quality aspects you need to check during your review, such as all documents begin with the correct cover page; correct number of pages per document including the cover pages; copies of the front and back of checks if applicable; all barcodes must be completed legibly and in blue or black ink; stamps must be complete and accurately placed in the up-right position on the top right corner of pages 1, 2, and 3 along the right edge; the bottom of stamps must be 5 inches from the bottom edge; and all dates must be within the date range specified on the cover when applying stamps.
If you use these best practices when scanning your legal documents, you can be assured the integrity and quality of your documents will be at the highest standard possible.
Common Obstacles to Legal Document Scanning
Scanning Difficulties
It can be argued that computer systems are only as good as the information placed in them. If an IT person wants to maintain credibility in corporate America, then he or she needs to be incessant at ensuring accuracy. It is not enough for a computer system to just present accurate results given the data entered into it, but the data must also be precise. Garbage in equals garbage out.
Garbage in itself has a serious problem associated with it. In order for any system to provide accurate results, the data entered into it must first be complete and accurate. Since the data to be entered is physical in nature, complete and accurate data must be made physically available to the electronic system.
Physical format or configuration of the paper document, unfortunately, is a common reason for slowdowns or errors in data entry. To start, not all documents are printed on a standard 8½x11 letter stock. Often, agencies or municipalities will print on larger legal or ledger formats. Further complicating the situation is the fact that some documents are folded for mailing or filing purposes. This increase in the physical size of the document makes it more difficult for the standard office copier or scanner to retrieve the document from the feed tray and into its feeds. Folded documents are also difficult to retrieve from filing cabinets as typical drawers will not open adequately to retrieve these in a simple motion. Even worse , folded documents are often torn and damaged as they try to insert them in the filing cabinets in correct document orientation. This is less a problem with archiving documents, but often a problem with active filing systems.
Another problem is that not all documents use standard data formats. The most common format is 8½x11 letter stock with all elements lined up for easy viewing and printing. Sometimes, however, documents are printed with non-standard elements. Forms and checks are probably the most common examples. Survey maps, blueprints and engineering drawings can pose scanning problems. Some larger maps were actually printed in sections and then glued together after the printing. Even large plans that were printed properly are now being folded so that they fit into standard office filing cabinets.
Faced with all of these problems, what is an agency to do? One solution is to purchase a scanner that will allow for scanning that is more comfortable to the user. For instance, some scanners now have a flatbed that will receive sheets that are folded or are too large for the feeding apparatus. The key is to purchase one that has a wide enough flat surface to accommodate the largest document format to be scanned. Another solution is to use a LARGE FORMAT scanner that has a flatbed, and to scan the larger originals in and then print them off to a smaller size.
