Business Goals for Legal and Law Firms in 2018
It’s a new year, which means implementing new business goals. So why not start by taking your document processes digital? According to AIIM, 74% of legal businesses still rely on a manual process to gather information, evidence, and documents required for discovery. The benefits of implementing an enterprise content management strategy go far beyond creating a paperless environment – it also improves security, simplifies eDiscovery, facilitates collaboration and so much more!
With an overwhelming inflow of sensitive documents including case files, wills, trusts, pleadings, and depositions, these documents need to be easily stored, accessed, shared, managed, and most importantly, secured. Data security prevents information from being stolen and hacked and prepares businesses to stay current with compliance regulations and audits. ECM software provides user-based sign-in access, multiple security levels, and audit trail reporting that provides full visibility into all actions made to a document including views, exports, and revisions.
Effective contract management is also crucial in the legal industry. The most frustrating part of the process is getting the required signatures. But by digitizing contracts, content management software streamlines the process by simplifying the application of electronic signatures! To start, you can easily create your own dynamic web-based form templates. You can then enforce access privileges and retention policies based on the agreement type. Once a contract is digitally signed and complete, it’s easy to lose sight of it, but by setting a reminder, you are automatically notified via email when a contract is close to expiration. Document management software gives you the ability to take control of the contract process from beginning to end.
The eDiscovery process can be stressful – and long. According to AIIM, the legal discovery process takes on average 17 days for paper-based records and 12.4 days for those operating electronic records management systems. ECM software gives you the ability to easily locate documents based on client name, matter number, docket number or keyword searching. These documents can easily be accessed from anywhere, at any time, on the browser of your laptop or mobile device. Even better, you can share these documents with your attorneys and litigation teams, keeping documents secure and in one central location. But with so many people involved in the process, how do you keep confidential information, such as a social security number, secure without affecting the document’s integrity? Document management software provides simple redaction, Bates stamping, and annotations to help protect this sensitive information from getting in the hands of the wrong person.
What are you waiting for? Enterprise content management can help take your business to the next level with increased productivity and streamlined processes. Contact Square 9 Softworks today to get started on the path to efficiency.
