7 Reasons Law Firms Digitise Client Matters

7 reasons why law firms digitise their client matter
An insight into why law firms use electronic binder technologies
to create their matter files & the benefits

www.nikecsolutions.com

The cost of creating a matter
•

The creation of matters is central to a law firm’s operation.

•

However, costs associated with paper based client matter folders are high.

•

These include:
• The time to create and amend documents,

• Searching for lost files
• Printing
• Transportation
• Storage


Innovative technologies
•

As the use of electronic documents becomes much more widespread, intuitive
technologies that closely reflect how lawyers currently interact with their matter
are available.


Innovative technologies
•

Here are 7 reasons why law firms are using electronic binder technologies to
create their matter files and the benefits this brings including:

1. Boosting productivity
2. Sharing knowledge & information
3. Supporting mobility

4. Sharing matters with clients
5. Saving on paper costs
6. Saving on storage costs
7. Approaching the paper less environment & CSR policies


1. Boosts productivity

•

Did you know…that employees in an information intensive environment deal with
up to 60 documents per day - from scanning, sharing, reviewing, to approval…

•

They spend up to 5 hours a week searching for information and 2.5 hours of that

on documents that are never found (IDC Information Worker Survey, June 2012).


1. Boosts productivity

•

Searching through electronic documents is quicker and easier. The digitised
search function can help recover specific documents.

•

Equally, electronic documents are easier to access, share, mark up and amend

and shortens the document lifecycle (i.e. the process from the creation boosting
overall productivity.


•

Often a team of lawyers practicing in different areas of law and in multiple office

locations need to collaborate on a case and share knowledge so that key
information is not missed.
•

This is why a leading edge Australian law firm based in 27 locations chose to go
digital. The IT manager of the firm explained:
“The firm’s greatest benefit of being local to our clients is also its greatest
challenge. Thanks to our sheer size and the number of office locations we
always remain close to our clients. However the challenge comes in sharing and
providing our teams with complete access to information as if everyone was in
the same office. Creating electronic matter files helps us overcome this”.

•

The electronic matter files permitted the law firm to collate all the case related

documents (court hearing documents, emails, legal correspondences…) into a
single, password secured electronic binder. This made it easy to organise,
move and share complete case files with authorised team members.



•

With today’s highly mobile workforce, lawyers work on their iPads and other
mobile devices which gives them access to case files and information
immediately.

•

With the use of any file sharing technology, electronic folders can be shared.
So that lawyers no longer need to physically carry folders that are bulky, heavy
and inconvenient.

•

In essence it provides you with a library on your iPad with all the documents
at your fingertip.



•

This was another key benefit for Australian law firm mentioned in the previous
slide, as they use the firm’s document management system across all offices:
“Our lawyers can now operate in Perth, Geelong, or Sydney and work on
the same matter as if they had physically passed a complete folder
between them. They will be able to attend chambers of a Barrister or
court hearings without the need to drag physical binders with them and
present documents to clients on devices such as the iPad or tablet.”


4. Sharing matter files with clients

•

Many clients often prefer to receive documents in this format.

•

Using a digital ring binder, documents and client matter can be sent
electronically, saving on courier costs.

•

Clients also save space as they do not need to store huge volumes of
paper files in their offices.


5. Saving on paper costs

•

Did you know…that an organisation’s printing costs can amount to up
to 3% of a firm’s total revenue?

•

We spoke to a UK based client firm with 8 regional offices and
approximately 600 employees. Triggered by the changes they were
making to their fleet of Multi-Function Printers, they undertook a
complete review of their paper consumption and the results were
staggering


5. Saving on paper costs – the results

•

They realised that by using a scanning solutions and integrating this
with a document organisation solution such as an electronic binder,
they could automate tedious processes and above all, save significant
amounts of paper.

•

Based on the fact that they used 3000 reams of paper. The cost of this
alone is close to £112000 per month. With the use of electronic
binders, they calculated that they could save up to two thirds of this, a

staggering monthly £75000.


6. Saving on storage costs

•

If you think of an office or off-site storage space as real estate, it is worth a
lot of money – especially if you are based in a city.

•

Using prime real-estate to store all your paper based folders can be an
incumbent cost. You may choose to relocate to a less expensive place. But
then, what about the time to look for and retrieving documents from
archives?

•

Once digitised, matter folders can be stored on the in-house server and the
only cost you may incur would be to add a hard drive. But no additional
space cost.


7. A paperless environment & CSR policies

•

Digitising documents helps hit corporate environmental targets.

•

Given that an average law firm prints about 10000 pages of paper per
month and 30% of this is wasted – either left unclaimed at the printer or
simply read and then thrown away, this has a huge environmental impact.


7. A paperless environment & CSR policies

•

One of our client is looking to reduce their paper consumption by 50% to
meet their CSR targets. Various strategies are implemented, one of these
being the use of this digital binder technology.

•

Communicating the use of paper saving technologies such as electronic
matters binders can be a value added proposition for your clients and helps
differentiate yourselves from your competitors.


Conclusion

•

There are many business benefits in digitising client matter files – all of which
depends on the firm’s strategic objective and what they wish to achieve.

•

However the underlying factor is that employees are under pressure to
reduce their document work cycle to a minimum and react to
new/changing information quickly and effectively.

•

And as law firms face tougher competition, the costs, the rate of

productivity and the levels of service are crucial factors in staying one
step ahead.


Nikec Binder
Nikec Binder is an electronic ring-binder to view, review, mark up
and present your documents in the office or on the move. Nikec
Binder collates files in a single convenient binder file. It is
designed to provide the busy fee earner with the tools to allow
them to view their matter in a format as similar to paper as
possible. Whether it's to present pitch document, create matter
bibles, know-how documents or internal training or HR
documents, Nikec Binder helps you deliver a slick, flashy and user
friendly electronic binder. Find out more


Contact
For more information please visit www.nikecsolutions.com
Address:
52-54 Gracechurch Street,
London, EC3V 0EH
Contact numbers:
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7621 2350
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7621 2360
Email:
info@nikecsolutions.com


7 Reasons Law Firms Digitise Client Matters

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