Electronic Image Management - Using David's Slingshot
We are a three lawyer firm in Jupiter, Florida. We handle complex securities, employment and commercial litigation and arbitration. Our cases tend to be paper-intensive. We hate paper. It cuts your fingers, gets on the floor, takes up space and spilled coffee always finds it.
In 2000, we started looking at the concept of managing documents electronically. At the time, the products were bloated and expensive. We got serious about the search in 2002. The products were still bloated and expensive. We signed up as the small firm guinea pigs for a program called Documatrix. It met most of our criteria, but they eventually asked us to move on. It became obvious that their foray into small firms did not pan out the way they wanted it.
Then, reading one of my four law practice and tech magazines, I came across an ad for a program called Caselogistix. The interface was much cleaner as was the administration. When we first got involved with them, it was a small organization. They were recently purchased by Anacomp.
What makes these programs special? Efficiency. Instead of paying a paralegal by the hour to place stickers or "bates" stamps on documents, the programs create electronic images with the label electronically placed on the pdf image. We can produce thousands of pages per day if necessary. I have done a production of over 1,000 pages in less than 20 minutes. Try that with stickers or a stamping machine. So while opposing counsel has a brace of paralegals, stickers in hand, we've moved on to the next task.
Electronic management of discovery is the way of the future. Learn it now.
In future posts, we'll discuss the nuts and bolts of how this technology works in the real world, or at least ours.
That's the view from The Law Planet, Jupiter, Florida
