Wayne Pierce, The Pierce Law Firm, LLC 

As part of our strategy of using a "less paper" office, I have tried  to virtually eliminate the  document retention issue by front-end loading the process. For example, our engagement letter describes that we save documents electronically unless they are original documents with some unique value, and that our preferred mode of communication is electronic. As another example, I  have a standard letter that I use to negotiate with opposing counsel that service will be proper electronically under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 5 (b) (2) (D). That has worked very well in  the federal system when all other documents are filed electronically anyway. Ideally, at the end of my cases, the only paper documents we still have are those requiring special attention. This has  worked very well for us.
As to your question about available technology, I remember scanning technology was discussed on this Email List just about a year ago. There were probably four or five comments at that time, including my own. We use a Workio 1810, which is a combination scanner and photocopier. We bought it used from a vendor near you at a deeply discounted price; it is a true workhorse and one  of the best investments we made.

Stuart Levine (sltax@fisherwinner.com)

I have tentatively determined to recommend the HP ScanJet 7800 or the HP ScanJet 8270.  I like the 7800 (it actually appears to be a higher tech than the 8270), but it does not have flatbed capability.  At $653.00 with free shipping, the 7800 looks like a keeper.
Try Adobe Acrobat 7 Pro.  It does a good OCR into Adobe and then you can copy and paste into WP or, presumably, Word.  You may have to take out some hard returns in WP, but it works passably well.

Ron Abrams (rabrams@ronabramslaw.com)

I use a Dell MFP 1600, which has a good scanner that works great for saving documents into PDF with Adobe.  However, I have never found a good OCR program, which would be a huge help.  Has anyone had luck with OCR? 

Harry Blondell (harry@blondelllaw.com)

For OCR you need OmniPage 14 or 15 Pro its expensive but works extremely well.  Scan and 123 it reads and saves into word, word perfect or any other document format you need.
I scan all mail and document as received into my software Time Matters.  It includes a pdf creator. It is then saved into the clients TM "file". I can read it, email it, fax it or convert it to WP to use in a document I create ie answers to interrogatories.
I use Xerox 250 (now 252?) scanner that can handle 50 pages in the automatic document feeder. A great accurate reliable scanner. Will not duplex scan.  I have an old hp 6500 usb for photo's and flat bed needs. 
You can literally carry you office in your pocket, but you also need really good back up. Rad 3 mirrored hard drives, daily tape and some type of off site contingency.  It's like flying or diving, when your life depends on your equipment, you need to back up the back up and don't go cheap.

Stuart Levine (sltax@fisherwinner.com)