Three Labeling Tips for Law Offices

Clutter impacts your law firm’s growth and productivity. In fact, a study found that cluttered workspaces can cause a company’s financial loss equal to about 10 percent of a manager’s salary.

Are you wanting to take control of your office? With the proper filing, labeling, and organizing systems, you can keep your law office tidy, so you can find what you want when you need it. Keep reading for some labeling tips to help you stay organized.

1. Create a Law Office Filing System

Law offices handle a great deal of paperwork and it can be difficult to organize. You need a transparent filing system that everyone in the office understands. You don’t want to mix up documents and folders between the different cases.

First, determine how you want to arrange these files. You can use categories to arrange by years and then use subdividers by individual case types.

You can then use an alphabetic order system or color code by any other grouping method. Make sure you have the right supplies. These supplies include:

• File folders
• Binders
• Legal tabs
• Exhibit tabs
• Filing cabinets
• Label maker

As you design a filing system. Find a labeling method that helps you identify different cases to help reduce time spent looking for specific documents. You can label your case files by your clients’ last names. Use a label maker so you can clearly read your labels.

By using exhibit tabs, you can clearly find the files you need. Check out https://legalsupply.com/exhibit-tabs for examples.

You should also use dates to help differentiate similar folders. By having an elaborate filing system, you can make it easier to help everyone locate individual files. Make sure everyone knows your system and put someone in charge to make sure the system is working.

2. Declutter Your Office

Another important way to declutter and develop a filing system is to tackle all the clutter and get rid of items you don’t need. Go through each item individually.

First, consider do you really need it. Only keep the paperwork that you need and use regularly. You want to avoid excess items on work surfaces that aren’t needed.

Next, if there is an item you haven’t used in a while or don’t anticipate using, it’s time to get rid of it.

3. Maintain Your System

After you’ve spent all your time organizing your filing system, you need to make sure your office doesn’t slip back into bad habits. This means you need to create a plan for maintenance.

Every day, people in your work should straighten up all work surfaces. Ask employees to prepare their space for the following day by putting all papers where they belong.

Every week, you should remove recycling and trash from your office. Make sure you have a method in place to destroy and documents with personal information you collected for legal services.

Each month, you should deep clean your office space to keep it fresh. Make sure all need paperwork is in the filing system and stored securely. This includes cleaning out drawers.

Start Labeling Your Files Today

With a proper labeling system, you can help keep your law office tidy and professional. Make sure everyone puts the documents where they belong and clearly marks the files so you can easily find them. Don’t forget to set up a maintenance system to ensure your filing system is working.

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