Taking Your Documents Online – The Best Scanners for Lawyers

Transitioning your small law firm from an office that uses primarily paper files to online documents is no small feat. It usually entails taking your stock of current and past paper files, scanning them into your computer and saving them to a cloud-based program like Dropbox or Google Drive. If you’re not sure what the Cloud is or how it works, no worries. We’ve covered all the information you need right here in The Cloud: A Guide for Small Law Firms.

Once you’ve mastered the Cloud and are ready to get started, it’s important to note that not all scanners are created equal. You’ll need one that can handle all the So, if you’re planning to take your firm’s documents online, here are a few of the best scanners that can handle the job: invoices, receipts, court documents and notes your firm has collected over the years. For some of you, that’s quite a bit of paper.

So, if you’re planning to take your firm’s documents online, here are a few of the best scanners that can handle the job:

FUJITSU ScanSnap iX500

This scanner is by far the favorite in the legal industry (and ours, too!). It supports both Windows and Mac computers, and can scan wirelessly to Android and iOS phones. The document tray can hold multiple pages at once and quickly scans documents of all shapes and sizes. It’s not as compact as a small desk scanner and will set you back about $500, but if you want to quickly move all of your legal documents online, the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 is your best bet.

FUJITSU ScanSnap S1300i

Although this model might not scan multiple documents as quickly as the iX500, it still packs a punch. The S1300i is small, sleek, and can fit nicely on your desk. It comes with a foldout tray that holds multiple documents and is compact enough to take with you while traveling. It’s also compatible with Windows and Mac computers, and syncs well with Dropbox, Evernote and Google Drive.

Your Phone’s Camera

With the many available apps for both iOS and Android devices, you can quickly and easily turn your phone into a scanning device. Apps like TinyScan, Fine Scanner, ScanWritr are incredibly useful to have on hand, as most of them allow you to edit, save and email all of the documents you scan. While this method might be slower than using the other two previously mentioned devices, you don’t need to purchase any additional equipment and only have to pay if you choose to upgrade the apps you’ve downloaded. Check out this link to learn more about some the best apps for attorneys.

Taking your small law firm’s documents online seems like a daunting task, but with the right equipment, you can have access to everything from your computer faster than you think!

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