A recent study showed that one attorney generates 60,000 pages of paper every year. That’s 30 pages per hour or 240 pages per eight-hour workday.
Multiply that by the number of attorneys in an average firm and it becomes staggering. Managing that much paperwork is impossible without the right tools.
Read on to learn about the five legal supplies every law office needs.
1. Binders and Folders
Using a binder helps organize papers you’ll need with you every day. It can hold:
- Bills
- Invoices
- Prospective client information
- Notes
Store the rest of your paperwork in folders. Manilla folders go into filing cabinets for quick sorting. Accordion folders hold sensitive and bulkier information such as medical records.
Binders and folders are a valuable marketing opportunity. Customize them with your law office’s logo.
2. Mailing Supplies
Your legal practice needs its own set of business stamps. Have enough to cover details such as the return address, the date of the document’s receipt, whose copy it is, and the level of confidentiality. You’ll save time and minimize errors.
Customized stationery is also essential for anything you mail out. Create custom envelopes that have your return address on top.
3. Shredders
Shredders are essential office supplies in businesses like law firms that deal with confidential information. Depending on your needs, you can get an:
- Auto-feed
- Continuous duty
- Cross-cut
- CD, DVD, and credit card
- Industrial
- Micro-cut
- Strip-cut
- Manual
Decide if your office needs a shredder with a wastebasket to catch the shreds or a portable one that sits on top of the basket. Figure out how many of them you’ll need to provide everyone with easy access.
4. Legal Pads
Legal pads have an interesting history. In 1888, Thomas Holly was working at a paper mill in Massachusetts. He had to pick up the scraps and throw them away but decided to bind them together instead.
Lawyers were his largest customer base because of how much paper they used. A judge suggested the red line along the side in 1900, and that’s what makes it a legal pad instead of a notebook.
Jerry Seinfeld, Sam Walton, Jonathan Dee, and Pat Conroy all contribute their success to legal pads. Law offices need them even more.
Choosing a color, either traditional canary yellow or white, is a matter of preference. Finding the right size depends on what you’re doing, so keep a large supply of both.
5″x8″ Junior Legal Pads are the right size for quick notes or directions. Bring a larger 8-12″ x 11-3/4″ pad when meeting with clients or appearing in court.
5. Tabs and Labels
Tabs and labels help you know what’s in your mountain of folders and binders at a glance. This allows you to access the right information quickly.
Legal tabs are printed on white legal stock. You can get them in upper and lower case in regular print. Exhibit tabs will have the word exhibit on them.
Numbered tabs show a number, the word exhibit, or both. You can also get them in different sizes and configurations.
Document labels help identify which documents are stored where. Color-coded them to differentiate:
- Exhibits
- Pleadings
- Reports
- Trial documents
- Depositions
- Wills
- Trusts
More Law Firm Tips
A law office produces so much paperwork that it needs more office supplies than most to handle it all.
Binders and folders organize documents. Tabs, labels, and pins make them easy to identify. Use custom envelopes and stamps when sending anything out. A shredder lets you get rid of anything confidential.
Read the rest of our content for more tips for becoming and finding a lawyer.
