Overview

Based in Toronto, with offices in Vancouver and Hong Kong, Goodmans LLP is recognized internationally as one of Canada's premier transaction law firms. Their clients include many of Canada's largest corporations and financial institutions, as well as numerous American and international organizations from a broad spectrum of industries.

Business Challenge

The sheer volume of invoice documentation within Goodmans LLP often necessitates external storage. The problem is however, that for lawyers to retrieve archived documents they must rely on an external storage company to search and retrieve them. This is both time consuming and costly.

The document collection process within the law firm is also arduous. A Records Book typically contains a vast number of legal documents, each divided by tabs. The volume of data requires that it too must be stored by a third party storage company. 

The data retrieval process involved is costly, lacks immediacy and provides an inefficient service to the law firm and its clients. An ideal solution for Goodmans would be to electronically store the documents in a searchable format in-house, so that the retrieval process is cost and time efficient.

Solution

Goodmans utilizes TIFF, PDF and OCR processing to create a multiple workflow solution. ExpressConversion Server automatically scans batches of documents and creates TIFF files containing a number of invoices. The TIFF file is then processed through the ExpressRecognition OCR software to locate the invoice number and create a PDF for that particular invoice. The newly created PDF file is named after the invoice number and loaded into a directory indexed by Microsoft® SharePoint™ Portal Server. Users are provided with a search feature via their intranet that allows them to easily search for an invoice by number or another I.D.

The Adlib Software solution also provides fully book-marked and searchable PDF Record Books for both Goodmans and their clients. Firstly the binders are scanned with separator pages replacing the tabs. The resulting TIFF files are processed by ExpressRecognition Server, which automatically recognizes the separator pages and converts them to PDF, standardizing the look and feel of each document. The documents are then stored on a CD and a copy is given to each client.

The result is an effective in-house solution that replaces the need for expensive external service bureaus. Archived legal documents and current invoices can be tracked and printed with a quick, easy to use in-house solution, removing the need for Goodmans to rely on external companies.

Benefits

Express is:

• Flexible - One server product was able to easily solve multiple workflow problems.
  
• Internal - Goodmans LLP was able to reduce their reliance on external bureaus and save time.
  
• Adaptable - Express was easily integrated into Goodmans existing architecture.
  
• Efficient - Goodmans LLP had a reduced need for storage space and reduced printing costs.