Law Firm Records Management, Dog Washing and Yoga

Yes, believe it or not there is a common denominator in law firm records management, dog washing and yoga. With all these things, we're always weighing what tasks are better done offsite than onsite. Take dog washing for instance. How nice is it to have the soapy floors, rimmed tub and soaking wet towels stay offsite? And those nice aprons they have at the Wash Bubba places keep our clothes dry. How about watching a movie with gorgeous Hawaiian scenes and George Clooney? Yup, I'd go offsite to the big movie theater screen for that one. Where does Yoga get done? Well here I am torn. Sometimes I'm short on time, so a quick downward dog downstairs works best. But most of the time I want the social and the more elaborate workflow I get when a Core Power Yoga instructor guides me through vinyasas in 90 degree heat. Go figure. But what about law firm records management?

Law firm on/offsite dilemmas

Law firms are grappling with what's better done on and offsite these days too no, not about yoga, movies or dogs. Law firm executives are exploring on/offsite approaches to lower administrative costs, including records management operational costs. According to findings from the 2013 Report on the State of the Legal Market, law firms must refocus strategies to manage their businesses more efficiently, as they face slow demand growth, declining realization rates and persistent overcapacity. So what is a law firm to do?

Offsite administrative studios

Over the last few years, a string of large firms has moved back shop functions like IT, accounting and HR offsite to facilities in lower cost cities, such as Nashville, TN and Lexington, KY. The primary drivers for this approach are lower real estate and personnel costs, along with an implicit recognition that these folks don't necessarily need to be right down the hall to provide service and support to the attorneys.

Onsite records poses

As part of these moves or in separate initiatives, some firms are hiring service providers to run their mail room, copy room and sometimes, records management onsite at the firm's offices. The premise here seems to be that these paper intensive functions must be onsite, within reach of a lawyer in a warrior 2 position. Firms pencil out savings from shifting fully-loaded records FTE costs to a service provider who runs their onsite records function. Frequently the provider will hire the law firm records people to keep the expertise and relationships with the attorneys. And the firm may have the onsite provider do some imaging, or shift some of that offsite.

Offsite records poses

Another approach involves moving some or all of law firm records management functions offsite. In this offsite approach law firms not only lower records personnel costs, but also eliminate significant real estate costs. Here, firms move the right mix of active and inactive files, people and scanning offsite to reduce real estate costs. Imaging is conducted offsite to give mobile lawyers access to documents with image on demand, or by special projects. Triggers for this offsite approach can include leases renewals, office renovations or wholesale office moves. Another push can come from a desire to minimize the costs of paper management, and to go digital smart for faster client service.

Potential improvements from a new offsite studio

Real estate is one of the top expense items for law firms. And records management can be a significant contributor here. Large firms with offices across the globe can spend in the neighborhood of $1M-$2M per year for central and dispersed records and file room space. The potential savings from moving these records offsite out of downtown areas becomes material when you look at it over 3 or 5 years. A business case and ROI analysis can give the firm's leadership the data to see the potential for enormous cost savings and productivity gains.

Key improvement factors are:

Lower real estate costs

Lower personnel costs

Real estate freed up for billable hour activity

Mobile lawyers spending less time waiting for information they need to give clients efficient and effective service.

Rethinking law firm records management in downward dog

As firms take a deep breath and chart their strategic plans for administrative cost savings, they'll want to include a relook at the mix of onsite and offsite records management operations. They may find that geographically diverse offices, mobile lawyers and a not-so-distant more virtual law firm with digitization capabilities and online access make having paper records and staff physically onsite less and less of a must have. As this shift takes place, firms will also want to create a career path for records management staff to grow into higher level, value-add information governance roles to support the more digital law firm.

Learn more about how Iron Mountain is helping law firms move paper records management operations offsite and go digital smart.

LINK:	http://blog.ironmountain.com/2013/records-management-and-storage/law-f...
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