Redcar-based Cygnet Law is hoping to banish paper to the recycling bin of history.
It intends to create a ‘paper-lite’ office over the coming months, working towards the ultimate aim of becoming paper-free.
Legal firms traditionally use a lot of paper but now much of the necessary information can be digitised.
Solicitor Stacey Phoenix said: “Not only is the switch from paper to digital storage kinder to the environment, it’s cost effective and much more efficient. It allows us to provide a more streamlined service.
“It frees up office space and provides quick and easy access to securely held information and certainly beats trawling through filing cabinets!”
Cygnet Law has already introduced recycling bins for paper and other types of waste, including cardboard, glass and plastic. It recently introduced a new process involving the shredding of any confidential documents so they too can be recycled.
A recent survey carried out by Crown Records Management Survey among 420 IT decision makers last year found 68 per cent of businesses nationwide now scan paper records and store them digitally whilst 65 per cent have a fully searchable digital archive record.
Just three per cent said their business was not doing anything to move towards becoming paper-lite or paper-free.
Stacey Turnbull, who helps manage office administration at Cygnet Law, explained that a review is underway into the contents of the firm’s filing cabinets to allow any duplicate documents to be recycled.
Staff have also begun the long process of digitising documents wherever possible.
She said: “We hope to transfer much more of our paper documents over to a secure digital format. We view the creation of a paper-lite office as an important step on the road to becoming completely paper-free.”