On several listservs I belong to, as well as in occasional blog postings, people say that there is a problem with going paperless.  The problem they all see?  Long readings on a computer screen.  A lot of people have a problem with reading a 45 page motion/brief/case on their computers.  I say there are two reasons this isn’t an issue.

First, if reading a document on your computer is such a strain on your eyes, you need to invest in a better monitor.  In reality, you probably read a lot on your computer and don’t necessarily notice it.  I think that it is more a psychological issue — it seems harder to read a long document online than the NY Times — and the times is a whole lot longer.

Second, just because you maintain a paperless filing system doesn’t mean you have to read everything electronically.  A lot of the time, motion papers, discovery etc… will come to you in paper format.  That paper is then scanned and electronically filed.  Usually, the original papers (minus anything you absolutely have to maintain in original form) are then sent to your client.  Well, you can read through things the first time in the original paper format before sending it off to the client.  After that, the indexed and filed electronic version of the document will probably suffice for whatever your needs are.  I also don’t think that the “reading long cases online” is so much of an issue.  So much research is done electronically, and I don’t believe that all these people are printing out cases to read them.  Even if you do, you can always print these documents and either (a) save them in a binder or (b) get rid of the copies [I'm sure people believe this is wasteful, but if you're paper-training a dog or have a bird cage to line, these papers could be useful].

So you can have a paperless filing/organizational structure without having to sacrifice the ability to read the occasional document in hardcopy.