Every morning I go to the mailbox and grab a handful of envelopes – court notices (which I already get electronically, so they get tossed out in testament to the wastefulness that is our government), offers for new products and services, correspondence from clients and opposing counsel, and a host of other odds and ends.
I usually don’t want out of the mailroom, preferring to stand over the trash can and flip the garbage where it belongs.
When I leave, I’m left with about 3-4 envelopes. These all get scanned into my computer, originals in a trash can under the desk.
Tsk, tsk, tsk . . . what a waste. Even when I beg people to fax or email documents to me, they insist on wasting their money at the US Postal Service. Old habits die hard, I suppose.
Who opens YOUR mail in the office? Do you let someone else slog through the mess? If so, are they allowed to toss out the junk or is the decision of what to keep and what to toss within your sole jurisdiction?
What can YOU do to save time – and money – on your mail opening and distribution policies?
When I step into one of my clients’ offices one of the first things I do is look at their mail. Usually, because it’s all over the place – on the desks, the floor, table tops, everywhere except where it belongs. It makes the office look like a gang of five year-olds invaded, increases disorganization, and slows down the works.
So what, you ask, is the solution?
The scanner, friend of all third wave lawyers.
First, open all the envelopes. All of them.
Second, scan the front and back of each page of the contents of the envelopes. Dump it all into a single PDF file.
Third, toss out the originals.
Fourth, save the file to the hard drive and let the managing attorney know it’s been saved. That lawyer gets first crack at the file, taking out all information that he or she deems “super secret.”
Fifth, the managing lawyer sends the file to the office manager. That person goes through the rest of the file and either saves pages accordingly or emails pages to other staff members.
Just like mail. Except without the paper.
Nothing gets lost, nothing gets rumpled, no coffee stains. Each staffer has the day’s mail in their email box so they can do with it as they see fit.
Are you the only one in the office? Even easier! Just do steps 1-3, and combine 4 and 5.
