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What is a Digital Mailroom Built for Law Firms?

By Michael Herzog posted 09-24-2020 17:50

  

In the New Normal a law firm needs a digital mailroom, not an ad hoc scan-to-email workaround.  A digital mailroom built for a law firm needs to be integrated with the firm’s document management system (DMS) so that postal mail can be digitized and seamlessly delivered within the safe confines of the DMS.

When the pandemic sent the workforce to home offices, most law firms quickly starting scanning to email to get the mail out. Facilities management or available clerical staff went into the office and cobbled together this new work process.

Forced to use existing scan-to-email at copiers, they were jamming a critical mail delivery process through a scanning system designed to infrequently let one person scan one document at a time. Quality checks for this effort were non-existent, evidenced by the fact that the scanned paper is still retained in makeshift filing boxes, or delivered to empty desks for later pickup and review

Email is a poor workflow management tool and nearly impossible to govern. Email is a weak security and compliance link in the lifecycle of matter documents and client information.  This is why law firms have document management systems and why firms store client information there. The DMS is the productivity and governance tool that helps firms service their clients and protect their information.

Legal documents that arrive by physical mail should not be delivered via scan-to-email. Here are some reasons:

  • Email attachments are stored in the email server, unmanaged. Sensitive client information delivered as email attachments floats and bloats in the email server, violating basic principles of information governance.
  • An email inbox is not a workflow tool, and it cannot be shared with other workers to manage process. After scans are delivered as email attachments, there is no way to monitor that all documents are properly processed, or even reviewed.
  • Scans of large documents can create file sizes beyond the set limits for email attachments.
  • Email is a key source of phishing and email attachments are a key source of malware, and email attacks are constantly evolving because email is perhaps the weakest link in IT systems. So, building new business process into email is a bad idea.

Recently, Am Law 200 firm Stinson LLP, has rolled out DocSolid’s Airmail2, the digital mailroom solution designed specifically for law firms and the New Normal.  Stinson launched Airmail2 in its main office then deployed to its other US-based offices in less than two weeks. 

LEARN MORE:
Full press release about Airmail2 + iManage at Stinson

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