I’VE BEEN WHERE YOU ARE NOW. Five years ago I was surrounded by paper. Instead of spending my time doing my job I was spending a good whack of time managing paper – filing, posting, shredding, updating briefs, and physically carrying briefs and textbooks from office to car to court and back again. It was daft. E-briefs (and online legal resources) have now arrived and are supposed to make life easier. They do, but at the start it isn’t easy. You’ll find yourself scrolling endlessly through long e-briefs. Your notes and e-mail exchanges live in lots of places. Solicitors send updates by e-mail and you struggle to stay on top of them or to properly incorporate them into your e-brief. You find it hard to keep your digital files organised. SOUND FAMILIAR? I was that lawyer too. Here’s what I did: I trialled software, lots and lots of software. The free stuff was (mostly) pants. The paid stuff was expensive and offered ‘features’ that I just didn’t need (yes you, Adobe). Some of the software looked useful but was just so bloody complicated to figure out (yes you, OneNote). Eventually I settled on a combination of tools that do everything I need and, crucially, also allow me to outsource a lot of work. Today I’m completely paperless, and I couldn’t be happier with the progress I’ve made. My files are organised and easy to find. My e-briefs are tagged and easy to navigate. My notes are in one central location and easy to access and update. I outsource all of my admin work. LOOK WHAT’S WAITING FOR YOU. Paperless is faster, cheaper, lighter, and easier. You can work anywhere – reading briefs, making notes, accessing textbooks, journals and case reports. You can outsource a lot of your admin work and stop wasting time managing e-mails, e-briefs, fees, expenses, scheduling, and even legal research. You’ll spend 100% of your time on fee-earning work, making your practice way more efficient. You’ll also end up with lots more free time, to do the things you enjoy doing.