Ensuring your firm’s success

In large organizations with multiple offices, documents are frequently transferred from person to person, place to place. Often, these documents include original information that cannot easily be duplicated or replaced. This process requires the utmost attention to security to ensure that important documents arrive on time and into the right hands. According to the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct:

“A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client.”

Security breaches can have dire consequences. For example, attorneys whose specialties involve medical issues must comply with HIPAA, a federal law requiring healthcare providers and “business associates” (in this case, lawyers) to protect clients’ personal health information. Failing to comply with HIPAA can result in significant financial penalties and a breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.

Identifying and mitigating risks

With these risks in mind, shipping and mailing are considered a top priority by the vast majority of legal executives who responded to a Pitney Bowes survey on Legal Dive. When asked about the top concerns affecting their legal teams’ decisions about shipping and mailing solutions, respondents identified the following security-related issues:

Limiting loss or misplacement of critical mail, flats, and packages. (55.3%)
Tracking chain-of-custody for incoming and outgoing mail and packages. (54.7%)
Having organization-wide visibility into sending and receiving activities. (41.3%)

Additionally, having systems to ensure attorneys working out of the office can ship and receive packages securely is critical to legal firms’ success. However, only 15.3% of legal executives reported that their firms had “extensive systems” in place. A further 43% said they had “some systems” in place, and 23.3% had “a few systems.”

When considering new shipping and mailing solutions, legal executives are sensitive to the risks they must address. Forty percent of respondents in the Pitney Bowes and Legal Dive Survey reported that heightening security and ensuring compliance with industry regulations were primary reasons for implementing operational changes.

Security and compliance and the role of shipping and mailing technology

Implementing or updating your shipping and mailing technology can help your organization adhere to security best practices and satisfy regulatory standards. Here’s how technology can protect your firm and your clients.

1. Track chain-of-custody for all incoming and outgoing mail and packages

Automated tracking of incoming packages and correspondence provides a robust chain of custody by electronically logging the date and time incoming packages were received, each time the item changes hands, and when it is delivered to the ultimate recipient.

Technology can also capture shipping label information with a single bar code scan, which saves time and eliminates manual data entry errors. Tracking data can then be viewed by everyone in the firm — even if they work in different offices.

2. Prevent the loss or misplacement of critical mail, flats and packages

Manual work can result in costly and reputation-damaging errors. Your firm can avoid parcel misdirection by implementing a solution with automatic address verification capabilities. Additionally, barcodes make it possible to track external mailings and inter-office transfers of critical documents and discover where a file was last received.

Technology can also reduce the likelihood of misplaced client checks, which can destroy relationships and damage a firm’s reputation. There’s also an opportunity to generate additional revenue. When your firm captures and submits delivery data electronically via client matter billing systems and verifies carrier billing data in real time, you can accurately charge back to clients.

3. Leverage organization-wide visibility into all shipping/receiving activity

Whether receiving, filing, managing, and organizing paper and/or electronic return receipts or “green cards,” the process is time-consuming and can result in costly errors. Therefore, the ability to track when certified mail was received, who signed for it, and when — and being able to access an electronic return receipt immediately — is invaluable.

Technology allows managers to supervise shipping activity and coach employees to utilize the most cost-effective options. It also improves efficiency by eliminating manual paperwork. Your firm can leverage the power of organization-wide visibility to focus on and reduce costs.

4. Ensure and protect the firm’s privacy and that of its clients

When attorneys are out of the office, remote arrangements can delay or complicate package delivery. With a solution like Pitney Bowes’ ParcelPoint™ Smart Lockers, employees can swipe a unique barcode to open and retrieve the contents of secure delivery lockers.

Smart Lockers also provide a secure way for employees to store their belongings during breaks or between shifts. It can also enhance security during internal transfers by offering protection for company technology or any other asset.

And by notifying staff when inbound parcels are ready for pickup or en route to their desks, shipping and mailing solutions can reduce the possibility of misplaced items and ensure private correspondence is not left unattended.

Conclusion

Protecting client information and complying with federal, state, jurisdictional, and professional standards is non-negotiable when running a successful legal firm. Implementing modern, secure shipping and mailing solutions — like products offered by Pitney Bowes — can prevent lost and misplaced items, deliver critical information efficiently, and ensure your firm runs smoothly and securely.