Seven Ways E-filing Will Benefit Your Law Firm

e-Filing has led to significant change in both the state and the federal court systems. If you happen to be providing litigation support, or if your court is deciding on the feasibility of e-Filing – here are a few important pros you must keep in mind:

Better Use Of Resources

Paper happens to be the primary commodity in the legal profession. In fact, an average law firm uses up to 100,000 sheets of paper per lawyer, per year. What’s more, an average office worker uses up over ten thousand pages per year. eFiling eliminates the usage of paper on such a massive scale. It makes it possible to make submissions without printing out final copies, as well as allowing filers to make edits to their files last minute, without having to re-print a whole lot of paper again.

Scalability

Your law firm is inevitably going to benefit tremendously when getting documents to the court doesn’t require you to print a lengthy number of documents, and then having those documents travel through different parties before reaching their destination. With the help of eFiling, a long step from the filing process is removed altogether. This replaces the significant amount of time that it takes to wait and travel with a submission process. This process will now be over in a matter of just a few minutes! eFiling also frees up the energy and resources being used by your team – which can then be utilized in some other workflow.

More Control

The thing with documents that are digitally logged is that they can be remotely tracked. This allows any parties involved to mitigate risks with more transparency, schedule out submission dates and be aware of any status changes. eFiling also allows law firms to be less dependent on 3rd party delivery services and couriers. With a 24/7 filing capability, you don’t face any limitations in terms of court hours – hence allowing you to stay ahead, and file from wherever you want, whenever you want!

Improved Connection To Information

An important part of the paper document comprehension process is that it relies too much on the reader’s perception, and their ability to retain key terms while they read closely. However, with digital documents – there’s an improved connection to information. For example, text searchability allows readers to locate any phrases or keywords, as well as have more control over the information. Moreover, reading on a screen also allows the reader to make use of bookmakers and track words across pages.

More Security For Documents

When it comes to paper documents, it isn’t possible to track any modification to the file or be aware if a page has been removed or added to the document. On the other hand, courthouse rules allow anyone to take documents from the court if they have a valid driver’s license. This can pose a risk to the security and integrity of the paper documents. When it comes to digital files – this risk is averted to a large degree. In addition to this, eFiling also allows the exact time and date of the filing acceptance and submission to be used as verification – hence making the process even more secure.

Increased Accessibility

As courthouses digitally file documents as their primary records, many people have the ability to check important files out at once. The text becomes fully available to anyone who needs to see it, regardless of their location. This makes a tremendous increase in the accessibility of the documents and is beneficial to everyone involved. The opposing party, court staff, as well as the judge, will now be able to review the case files all at the same time. The accessibility is now 24/7 – and will hence allow everyone to stay in touch throughout, as well as keeping the case moving forward for everyone.

Time-saving

Time-saving is one of the most important changes that are brought about by electronic filing. You can now transfer documents through a secure connection without having to stand in a queue at the court or waiting for a courier.  Attorneys no longer need to wait for case files to reflect the addition of new documents, and clerks can go through each document back to back without any transition time between filers. It’s a win-win situation for all!