The Gazette 1985

GAZETTE

APRIL 1985

capacity and capabilities of word processors, typing speed is not such a big factor, except for the " one - o ff letter or document. We have managed to limit such typing as much as possible. Our original equipment consisted of one Central Processing Twin Disc Drive Unit with one Visual Display screen. Floppy discs hold all the information including precedents. A keyboard attached to the Central Unit and with a one-line text display was placed on each fee earner's desk. One printer was placed in a central area and was shared by all three. As we were all sharing the one disc drive problems arose when someone wanted to change a disc in order to recall an earlier precedent. It meant that the others would have to stop their work and, as we all know, there are enough interruptions in a solicitor's office without adding to them. A far more serious problem arose when a breakdown occurred with one of the shared items — usually the disc drive. Unfortunately for us we were plagued with breakdowns from the beginning and we quickly realised that our only hope of success with this experiment was for each of us to have an independent work station with disc drive, Visual Display Screen and Keyboard, sharing only a printer with the others. We even had a stand-by printer. This is what we eventually had to do and of course the capital outlay for the additional equipment was quite substantial. In addition to the above equipment each fee earner's desk area (work station) is equipped with an overhead rack containing his current files and a photocopier is located nearby. Sharing the printer works well because of the close proximity of our desks but, in a different situation, each person could be supplied with a printer. We have no typist as such and the secretary/receptionist is not required to type (except in an emergency) thus leaving her free to concentrate on her primary role without the distraction of typing for deadlines. The fee earners operate the work system when producing a letter or document in our office as follows:— 1. they take down the file; 2. they type the letter or document. This frequently only involves calling up a standard precedent and filling in a name and address; 3. they check the letter on the screen; 4. they print it out on the printer; 5. they take a photocopy for the file; 6. they put the original letter in the post-tray; 7. they put the copy on the file; and 8. they return the file to the filing cabinet. Therefore, apart from the actual posting of the letter (which is handled by the secretary or a junior member of the staff) everything else is done by the fee earner and no one else interferes with his/her file. This has many advantages over a conventional word processing arrange- ment using operators or secretaries:— 1. The fee earner has complete control from opening to closing of a file. 2. The files are kept by the fee earner, giving ready access thereto, thus speeding up the work. There is no waiting for secretaries to locate files and (hopefully) no mislaying of files. 3. Confidentiality which is a particularly important factor in a small provincial town, is mentioned. 133

Operate Your Own Word Processor

by John Turley, Solicitor

T HE purpose of this article is to explain to readers the system which operates in our firm whereby the solicitors, law clerk and apprentice ("Fee Earners") operate word processing equipment themselves and thus have allowed the firm to dispense with secretarial staff. The article seeks to explain how we arrived at this situation and to point out certain advantages and disadvantages attaching to it. For the benefit of any readers who may still be unsure as to what exactly a word processor is or readers who may be confused between the functions of a word processor and a personal or other computer, a word processor is a specialised type of computer specifically designed to handle large volumes of typing and to permit very easy editing of text. It has a normal typewriter style keyboard but unlike a personal computer has a series of additional keys which make it very easy to perform the text editing functions. It can, for example, correct spelling, make right hand margins even and allow the user to juggle paragraphs and change wording quickly, all the time displaying the text on a television style screen. The final wording can be printed out and/or stored in the memory of the machine for repeated later use on a continuing basis. We are a small practice based in the Midlands. At present we have four fee earners and one secretary/ receptionist. We decided to embark on word processing about three years ago. We had three fee earners then and our decision to operate the equipment outselves was based primarily on the theory that it would complement our existing office arrangements. We had previously been experimenting with manual systems involving standard letters, photocopying, etc. Each fee earner was doing his own filing with a view to reducing to a minimum any backlog of dictation tapes with typists. The move from this to word proceessing seemed, therefore, to be the most logical thing in the world — our only initial worry being our lack of typing skills, only one of our number having at the time reasonable typing ability. This, however, proved to be a very minor irritant as our speed gradually increased and, because of the