Three Tips to Organizing Legal Files

3 Tips to Organizing Legal Files

Organizing a legal office is a daunting task for any person to take on alone. The first step is to not overwhelm yourself. Do not rush and try to do all of at it once. Pace yourself and set small daily goals. These tips should help the process and take away the stress.

Clear It All Out

You must de-clutter the mess before you organize. Doing this will help you see exactly what you have. When you begin the process, set up different piles. Avoid creating too many, or else you may end up unable to remember what-is-what. Use just three, or maybe four. If you have duplicates of a document, meaning more than two, toss them out.

Sort It Out

Once the office and its documents are in piles, now is the time to carefully sort through each document. This part can seem heavy, but once you get the hang of it you will be able to decipher what you do and don’t need, and the process will speed up.  Keep in mind that your office desk should only have files that pertain to the ongoing cases you are working on. Anything outdated should be kept in a folder out of sight.

Organize It

This is the important part. The first thing you need to do is take all the outdated files and other documents that don’t belong on the desk and put them where they need to be. Make sure to make a mental note of where you are placing these documents.

When you focus on the piles of documents currently on the desk, ask yourself the following questions:

• When was the last time I referred to this?
• Is this information I can access quickly on the internet?
• Does it relate to my current case?

From there you should be able to truly narrow down your documents. Anything that does not truly pertain to the cases you are working on do not belong on your desk. Those files should be filed away in their appropriate places.

Helpful Tip

Use the ASP Legal Tabs to appropriately name each document. They have legal tabs, index tabs that will make the process of organizing court papers, legal briefs, depositions and business documents faster and easier. Click here for more information.

Three Top Courtroom Movies

1. A Few Good Men

This 1992 legal drama stars Tom Cruise as a young hot shot military attorney defending two marines accused of murder. Jack Nicholson puts in an amazing performance as the prickly Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, Cruise’s nemesis.

2. Kramer vs. Kramer

This tense family drama stars Dustin Hoffman as he tries to keep custody of his son and won five Academy Awards in 1980.

3. My Cousin Vinnie

Not quite as dramatic as the others listed, but this movie starring Joe Pesci as a fish-out-of-water New York lawyer defending his cousin in the deep south has some hilarious courtroom scenes. Marisa Tomei also won best supporting actress for her role.

Have your own courtroom drama coming up? For the biggest variety of legal tabs online available for immediate shipping, visit APS Legal Tabs today.

3 Ways to Improve the Way You Organize

1. Colors – Using different colors to differentiate your files and binders is a great way to stay organized. You can even assign specific colors to certain groups, making it easier to find what you need.
2. Frequency – To add more efficiency to your workplace, try sorting your things by how often you use them. If the items you use most are closest to you, then you don’t waste any time retrieving them.
3. Labels – Label everything you use visibly. If you can identify your files without pulling them out, you aren’t wasting time looking through them.

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3 Tips for Organizing Paperwork

1. Alphabetize: The best way to organize you mound of paperwork is through alphabetization. Organizing your paperwork in alphabetical order not only makes finding things for yourself easier, but it also improves others’ abilities to navigate your files efficiently.
2. Color Code: Do you have different categories of filed items? An easy way to distinguish these items is to color code them based on category.
3. File Tabs: Are you tired of digging through all of your files to determine what they house? File tabs allow you to visibly label each file with their contents, for repeatedly easy searching.

 

Do you need file tabs to better organize your paperwork? APS Legal Tabs offers fabulous file tab options to keep your paperwork organized and manageable.