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8A Despite technology, going paperless in legal world brings plenty of challenges By Brian Sodoma / Contributing writer bout 11 years ago, when her boss, A says. So John Bailey, struck out on his own, Alice O'Hearn got her dream job. She was helping to build a law office from the ground up. The legal administrator for Bailey Kennedy had some years of experi- ence under her belt and had visions of making an office as minimally de- pendent on paper as possible. It's been a hit-and-miss affair, she admits, but a challenge she has hap- pily taken on with daily vigor. The key to minimizing paper is making the necessary technology to do so conve- nient for staff and attorneys, O'Hearn what does convenience look like? Scanners within 15 feet of each trieval problems. O'Hearn estimates There are also processes in place. When mail comes in, assistants scan documents related to a case immedi- ately. The employee manual even in- cludes the method for how to name the saved document on the network accessible to everyone at the firm. This is critical for eliminating re- employee, large dual monitors at workstations for viewing large files and multiple pages, and quick access to a high-speed scanner capable pro- cessing 50 pages a minute are some of the conveniences in place at Bailey Kennedy. "The thing about being a young firm is we're nimble, progressive and we can embrace new technologies as they come along," she said. "But truthfully, it's not a paper-less office. It's more of a less paper office." the firm still keeps about 20 percent of the paper related to a case. An in- tricate system of hard drives and servers are in place to store the firm's data and documents with updates on back-up drives done weekly. "If the building burns down the most we'll ever lose is one week," she added. There is indeed labor and resource costs cut by not needing to go through physical files, and like older firms may still do, hire a librarian or clerk to keep track of them. It's common for attorneys to trade flash drives, CDs and DVDs full of information as opposed to boxes of files these days. But there is a glitch to all of this great technology put into place for saving paper. What if at some point you do need to hit "print?" Take e-mails, for example. Doz- ens of exchanges between clients, counsel and others can be used as evidence or sometimes needed for other purposes in a case. These mes- sages stored for periods of time, elec- tronically, are sometimes printed for a judge requesting a hard copy. It can, in some cases, mean dozens of pages of documents created with the initial purpose of solely being in an elec- tronic format now being needed in paper form. " added. P While the technology is great, it can also be a hindrance," O'Hearn aul Hejmanowski, managing part- ner with Lionel Sawyer & Collins, is not convinced that the move to pa- perless is making much headway at all these days, despite there being a constant run of new technology to give the impression that it is. As far The Law Offices of Oshins & Associates, llc would like to congratulate our "Top Lawyers" Richard A. Oshins Estate Planning | Tax Steven J. Oshins Estate Planning | Tax Heidi C. Freeman Estate Planning | Tax Kristen E. Simmons Estate Planning ■ The attorneys at Oshins & Associates, LLC practice in the areas of estate planning, tax planning and probate ■ Congratulations to Oshins & Associates, LLC for being ranked by U.S. News as the only Tier 1 law fi rm in Southern Nevada in Trusts & Estates Law ■ Congratulations to Richard A. Oshins (Class of 2007) and Steven J. Oshins (Class of 2011) for being named two of the sixty-six members of the prestigious National Association of Estate Planners & Councils Estate Planning Hall of Fame® Law Offices of Oshins & Associates, llc 1645 Village Center Circle, Suite 170 | Las Vegas, Nevada 89134 | t: 702-341-6000 f: 702-341-6001 www.oshins.com