What is legal document processing?
Legal document processing refers to organizing, storing & securing legal documents. Legal firms encounter different types of documents like case files, discoveries, contracts, invoices, etc. All these documents need to be organized into files & folders based on the type of case, client, date, amount, payment status, etc. Organizing these documents makes it easier to retrieve them during trials, audits, payment or contract disputes, etc.Processing legal documents, especially paper documents, can be extremely frustrating for lawyers. Nearly 60% of a lawyer’s working hours are spent arranging, storing & searching legal documents. Some legal firms also employ additional resources or third-party vendors to manage their legal paperwork.
What is a document management system?
What is intelligent document processing in the legal industry?
Intelligent document processing in the legal industry refers to digitizing document processes & using smart digital tools like legal document management system to minimize document processing costs & time.Legal documents, like case files or contracts, can be paper documents or digital documents. Paper documents are traditionally more difficult to manage since they require physical storage units, 24*7 surveillance & additional organizational tools like color-coded tags, RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification), etc.Whereas, digital documents don’t require any additional space and can easily be organized into their respective folders or groups. Digital documents are also easier to secure against thefts & leaks, and can be shared with other users within seconds.
Learn how a law firm can benefit using a document management software
Benefits of intelligent document processing for lawyers
Case file digitization
Digitizing case files & supporting documents makes it easier to store & organize them. Lets say your firm is the legal representative of ABC Corp. ABC Corp manufactures 15 different kinds of products. Digitized versions of ABC Corp’s case files makes it easier for you to categorize them based on their product category, legality, type of case, etc.
Digital tags & metadata keywords make it easier to search for case files when required. Let’s say you need to find ABC Corp’s sales report for a specific product category for the year 2010. The sales report will have metadata like client name, product name, date, etc which will act as search keywords & will help you find the report faster.
Creating legal arguments
Legal arguments are constantly being modified. It is important to track older versions of legal arguments, while making changes based on the progress of the case. The best way of processing legal arguments is by versioning them. Document versioning automatically creates new versions of edited documents, and also stores older versions for reviewing.
Discovery management
Digitization of discovery documents helps create a standardized way of managing case discoveries. This helps remove duplicate & low-value information, reduces errors & delays in discovery submissions & improves document categorization.
Document review
Reviewing paper documents can result in approval delays & low productivity. But with digital document processing, legal firms can create a digital document workflow that completely automates the document review process. Users can create customized multi-layered workflow designs, select the number of approvers & even share feedback with other users in the workflow process.
Request handling
A process-oriented request handling mechanism can ensure all client & discovery requests are processed in the best way possible. Each request can be linked to its respective case or client, to ensure the requests are easier to access for other members of the legal team.
About GLOBODOX
GLOBODOX document management system provides smart document processing solutions to lawyers & legal firms all around the world. GLOBODOX’s built-in scanning, automated archiving, document versioning, document encryption & other document management features are known to reduce legal paperwork hours by more than 50%. GLOBODOX’s user-friendly interface & ability to integrate with other CRM, ERP & Accounting software have made it one of the top choices of law firms in countries like the USA, India, UK, Sri Lanka, etc.
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