The Connected Lawyer

Leveraging Technology to Practice Law More Effectively

Monthly Archives: March 2010

Are Lawyers Moving to Virtual Fax Services?

I recently read an interesting column at Law.com’s Legal Technology Blog about attorneys moving to virtual fax services.

I agree with much of what the author has to say in this post. In short, virtual fax services are great. I have used one for years. When I recently opened my own solo practice I never even considered buying a fax machine.

The author points out that virtual fax services have a variety of benefits including:

  • Let you go mobile
  • Improve privacy
  • Increase security
  • Keep a team informed
  • Keep faxes organized and available
  • Reduce costs and environmental footprint

Jump over and read the entire post. He makes some excellent points.

As I was reading his post, however, I was struck by the thought of whether this is the right tactic to be taking. Yes, virtual faxing has great benefits. In my book, however, the benefits are no greater than the benefits of engaging in the same communication via email. I use a virtual fax service because there are attorneys who still refuse to communicate via email. I can’t imagine that these attorneys are suddenly going to move to using a virtual fax service.

My question is, shouldn’t we be trying to move these attorneys to using email?

However, if you are like me and still dealing with attorneys who insist on using a fax machine, go to a virtual fax service. You will never regret the move. It’s as close to moving your communications to email as you are likely to get in today’s legal world.

Computer Skills Everyone Should Know

At I Heart Tech, Adriana Linares is blogging about 10 Critical Computer Skills Every Attorney Should Know. In her first post of the series, she talks about operating system and file management essentials. Some of the skills that she covers are things such as creating a new folder and using the Shift and Ctrl keys to select files and folders.

She also provides links to tutorials on things such as moving windows, hiding windows, and switching between windows. I am constantly amazed as the number of people that I run across who do not realize the value of their computer’s ability to multi-task.

I have encountered people before who thought they had to close Outlook to use a different program. Some people have no idea what it means to minimize a window. Similarly, some have no idea how to move a window (or even that you could move or resize a window).

Sometimes it is easy to forget that people don’t have these basic skills. Most of the time, that is not their fault. Many people had a computer put in front of them, told how to operate a particular program essential to their job and then left to their own devices. Stated simply, this is what happens without proper training.

Look around your workplace, are there employees who do not know these basic skills. If so, send them to training. These are essential skills to have so people can operate their computers more effectively. The more effectively and efficiently they can operate their computers, the more efficient they can be when working for you.

Saving Paper

A couple of recent experiences have prompted me to think about the number of wasted pages that attorneys generated. And I am not talking about poorly drafted arguments. I am talking about exhibits.

I am involved in an appeal in an insurance coverage case. The issue is discrete and is strictly a legal issue. There are no real facts at issue. In the case, the Complaint was 14 pages long. A similarly sized amended complaint was also filed, along with a counterclaim from another party. With answers to each complaint and counterclaim along with the motions for summary judgment and responses, there is, in total, maybe 300 pages of pleadings filed in the case.

The common law record on appeal, however, is 2,841 pages long. What is the rest of the record comprised of? For the most part, copies of insurance policies. I know, this is an insurance coverage case. The applicable policies are important. In this case, there were a lot of them because there were multiple companies and multiple policies involved.

However, the reality is that the provisions relating to the lawsuit comprised less than 10 pages from each of the policies. Notwithstanding this, the attorneys for the insurance companies attached the complete policies for every policy to both the applicable complaint (or counterclaim) and the motion for summary judgment.

This is something I see all of the time. I understand the desire to attach the complete policy to the complaint. However, is it really necessary to attach hundreds of irrelevant pages as an exhibit to a motion for summary judgment? In this case, those extra irrelevant pages amounted to, literally, thousands of pages. And that was just in the record on appeal. In the case before the trial court, those thousands of pages were served on three other parties.

In a less extreme, but still wasteful example, I was recently served with a motion to dismiss a complaint I had filed. The defendant’s attorney had attached a copy of the complaint to the motion. Why? Sure, give the judge a copy of the complaint when you provide him with courtesy copies of the moition. However, I can think of no reason to actually attach it as an exhibit to the motion to dismiss. It’s not like the complaint is information outside of the record. It’s what got the court file started in the first place. This seems to be a common practice in Illinois. Does this happen in other jurisdictions as well?

Anyway, what I am saying is think about the paper you are wasting. I don’t want to scan it, store it, or mail it, if it is irrelevant or unneeded. Certainly, there are exhibits that you need to attached to your pleadings. Further, there is no question but that in some cases you will have to attach an entire contract. However, if you exhibit is hundreds of pages long, and you are looking only at a couple of pages, think about paring down that exhibit.

The common law record on appeal contains 2,841 stamped pages. In reviewing the record, however, I noticed several unstamped pages that were missed because the pages were stuck together. As a result, the waste is even greater than it initially appeared to be.