Every Law Office Has Systems-habits

The purposes of systems and procedures for the administration of a law office and for the performance of legal work itself are to insure (1) collection of all information, (2) retention and storage of information, (3) communication to those who need to know, and (4) timely performance. Humans, as creatures of habit, always develop systems for performing repetitive tasks. Randomly developed habits may be inefficient, ineffective, and expensive.

Effective and efficient systems require careful development by an individual who can ask the key questions of systems analysis: (1) Why are we doing this? (2) Can we do it more quickly? (3) Can we do it less expensively? (4) Does the product serve a useful purpose? (5) Can the same information be derived from another source?


The systems used in a law office require written plans which can be used to instruct and remind. Once good systems are developed and implemented, repeated audits of the procedures must be undertaken to ensure that the staff does not add
unnecessary additional steps.

This article helps the reader in improving those used in his office.

Organizing New Matters

The key to the proper functioning of administrative systems related to legal matters lies in the development of a basic system for identifying clients and opening new files. Just as one cannot draw checks or withdraw money from a bank account into which no deposit has been made, so a law office cannot reap the results of an integrated system if the systematic input of initial information has not been accomplished.

Many portions of the system will operate solely through clerical effort. However, the input of information on new cases is dependent upon the originating attorney. Attorneys cannot expect time and accounting records to be maintained on clients or about cases of which the secretaries and bookkeepers have no knowledge.

Client Information Forms

A standard form for the recording of new matter/new client information is needed in every law office. Depending on the size of the firm and the number of matters opened, and other variables, the new matter form may range from a small 3" X 5" slip of paper to a complicated, multi-part form. Regardless of how simple or complicated the form is, there is certain basic information which is common to most law offices, and certain optional information which may or may not be included. This will depend upon the needs of the firm and the complexities of its system. The following data are basic:
 

1. Client Reference Information: Name, address, file name if different, telephone number at home and at work, and the name of the person or department to receive the bill.
2. Case Information: The problem or case; the date on which the file was obtained or opened; the attorney who maintains the contact with the client, the file number, the name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the adverse party or parties; the court, term and number, if any; and the statute of limitations expiration date.
3. Financial Information: The billing arrangements made with the client as to the fees for lawyers' time and costs advanced, identification of the matter as either a separate billable matter or a matter being handled under an ongoing retainer arrangement (or in a law department, the department's budget to be charged).

Distribution of New Case Information

An important purpose of the systematic recording of new file information is to advise all of the firm's lawyers of the acceptance of the new assignment. In a two- to three-lawyer office the new file memo itself may be circulated after the file is opened. In larger offices, either a copy of the new file form or a list or index card prepared from it is used to advise members of the firm about the matter.

It is important that the systems steps which follow initiation of the new matter form be taken rapidly. Therefore, a single original of the new file memo should not be used to communicate information, lest it come to rest on a busy lawyer's desk before the full procedure has been completed.

There are two main reasons for distributing new case /new client information to all attorneys: (1) it is a good indication of the pattern which the office is taking in terms of field of law and growth in the number of matters being opened; (2) it is a double check for possible conflicts of interest at an early point in the firm's commitment.

Retaining the New Case Forms

The most common place in which to file new case memoranda, is in an ordinary three-ring binder. The forms are placed in order, alphabetically by client name. In a firm which has a filing system which stores files by case name rather than by the name of the client, the placement of new case memoranda by client name provides a complete source of all matters actively being handled for any given client. The three-ring binder of case forms on active matters also provides a convenient location for a review of all matters pending in the office. This is useful in a review of an associate's work load or the overall promptness with which work is being handled by all lawyers.

In some firms, the new case memoranda may go back to the attorney responsible for the matter and be held by a secretary or on his or her desk in order to provide a method of review of the case load for which the attorney is personally responsible. The particular placement of the completed new case memo depends upon which way is the most convenient source of information to the firm.

When the work on a case is completed, the new case form may be annotated to indicate the fact that the case is finished and can now be used to initiate the file closing procedures. In most firms, it becomes a part of the closed file.

Filing

A proper filing system, designed to fill a particular law office's specific needs, will markedly increase the effectiveness of client service. There is a wide choice of filing systems from which to choose, each offering unique strengths and, in some cases, weaknesses. The problem is to choose the one best for your office and that presupposes knowledge of the alternatives.

Indexing

The new case memorandum form provides the basic information necessary to index any matter and to open the file folder. All law firms, whether they have alphabetical or numerical filing systems, should maintain one central index to all files. Although the filing of the new case memorandum may provide a kind of index to active matters in small firms, there should be a card index for easy access. Many firms having alphabetical filing systems have neglected to install an alphabetical card index, feeling that it is not necessary. Without the card index, however, it is impossible to determine when a file is misplaced or lost. The card index indicates that there is a file, who is responsible for it, and where it should be filed. The simplest kind of index is a 3" X 5" card, like that in Figure 8-5, which is found in many offices. Although this type of card is adequate for some purposes, it has limited usefulness. It does not, for example, include the telephone number or address of the client-information which may be very useful to a secretary or switchboard operator; nor does it have the initials of the attorney handling the case, which is extremely useful to a receptionist if a call is received from a client who does not remember the name of the attorney handling the matter.

In litigated cases or other matters having adverse parties, it is essential that the index also contain a cross reference card by the name of the other party involved. Every person opening a new file should be instructed to check the index to determine if there is a conflict of interest. Without a basic client and adverse party cross reference index, this is not possible. In matters of potential litigation, it is also essential that a tickler card alerting the office to the Statute of Limitations deadline be prepared.

The process of opening the file can include the preparation of other office records. In order to eliminate repeated typing of cards, multiple-part snap out card systems have been developed by many suppliers.

Many law firms advise use of their own multiple-part index forms. There are printers who can prepare these forms to specification. Some of the commercial form printers will do so upon request.

Internal Arrangement of Files

In a general sense, a file is the compilation of papers for one client. Since a client may be a person, corporation, or other legal entity which hires a law firm for either ad hoc or continuing work, the size and number of file folders which exist for one client have infinite variety.

An ad hoc client is one who has engaged the law firm to do a specific thing; for example, to purchase a piece of property, to obtain a divorce, to handle a law suit, or to probate an estate.

With ad hoc clients, the firm is concerned only with one specific problem, and the file deals with this problem only.
Continuing clients are those for which the firm has general legal responsibility for all legal matters as they arise or as the firm is called upon to handle them. These clients are generally businesses or associations such as community organizations. All of these matters, no matter how many folders they may consume, are the file (singular) of the client.
Within each file there may be many folders (one for each matter that was handled) or many sub-folders (one for each division of a matter). Only the lawyer working with the client can make the ultimate decision as to how the subjective matter of the file should be handled. An office can, however, have a policy as to how certain types of files should be subdivided and arranged. This will answer many filing decisions without involving the legal staff.

In the case of ad hoc clients, the client file arrangement may be preset for standard types of matters. Personal injury litigation files, for example, can have standard breakdown into sub-files titled (1) Pleadings, (2) Correspondence, (3) Statements, (4) Special Damages, and (S) Photographs. Every litigation file, when it is being made up by the file clerk, can be given these subfolders, ready to receive and organize the papers as they accumulate.

In the case of continuing clients, such as business corporations, it is possible to preset the general framework of the subfolders, each one of which may contain many sub-subfolders.

All corporations that are represented generally by the office may have their various matters arranged with predetermined captions. Within this predetermined arrangement there will be other folders, the titles of which will be determined by the type of business and the organization of the client entity. For example:

All Files for corporations

Sub-folder Number Name of Sub-folder
 

1. Correspondence and General-this year
2. Correspondence and General-last year
3. Board of Directors Minutes
4. Directors Meetings, general
5. Articles and By-laws (current)
6. Corporate Documents/Incorporations
7. Shareholder Minutes
8. Shareholder Meetings, general (this year)
9. Annual Reports (one copy)
10. Officers
11. Securities issued
12. Securities to be issued
13. Audits/Financial Statements
14. a Taxes-Federal
15. b Taxes-State
16. c Taxes-Local
17. d Taxes-Foreign
18. a Regulatory Agencies-Federal
19. b Regulatory Agencies-State
20. c Regulatory Agencies-Local
21. d Regulatory Agencies-Foreign
22. a Real Property owned
23. b Real Property leased
24. a Acquisitions and Mergers completed
25. b Acquisitions and Mergers-future
26. a Equipment Contracts-company
27. b Employment Contracts-company
28. c Other Contracts-company
29. d Contracts from company
30. Trade Association
31. Pension and Profit Sharing-current
32. Personnel Forms
33. Labor Agreements-current
34. Labor Cases

Each of these major numbers may have specific sub-divisions, such as the name of the company with whom contracts exist, the location of real property, or the court number of litigation.

Similar subdivisions can be predetermined for unincorporated businesses, associations, labor unions, or any category of business in which the firm has acquired several clients.

Legal departments of corporations and governmental bodies have specialized requirements.

A corporate legal department must devise its filing systems to suit the kind of industry involved or the business of the corporation. A patent department of a chemical company, for example, may arrange its files by the names of the various research or works locations from which the patents originate, the application number, the patent number, the name of inventor, or all of these at various stages of development, depending on the volume of patents involved. The legal department of a communications entity may choose to arrange all files in the first instance by the name of the station or channel involved, and within each station or channel, by the type of corporate breakdown included previously. A corporation which has many subsidiaries will have to have specially designed file arrangements to control the information which flows into it from each of the owned companies.

Government legal departments generally use topical or individual name distinctions to form the main file arrangement. A city tax collection bureau, for example, will divide its files by the type of tax involved and, within this breakdown, by the names of taxpayers. It may be advisable also to separate those tax matters which are under investigation from those in litigation.

Public interest offices may separate files by geographic area of the client, by type of matter, by status of the case, or simply alphabetically by the name of the person who has come to the office for help. The proper breakdown depends on the administrative needs for information and the reporting requirements of the agency.

Centralized and Decentralized Files

Centralized filing may be defined as a centralization of control over all files in the hands of certain personnel who may work out of one or more file rooms. Decentralized filing, on the other hand, scatters the filing control over the entire staff of secretaries, lawyers, and clerks. Whether a law office can file better in a centralized or decentralized manner depends on the number of lawyers, the way in which work is divided among lawyers, the type of clients represented, and the available space and personnel.

When lawyers normally work together on files, centralized filing becomes necessary. If this step is too long delayed, these problems may occur:
 

1. Other lawyers will create entire duplicate files because "the" file is hidden away in a partner's office.
2. Portions of files will be removed and will not find their way back to the master file. The portion itself will become a new file and will be kept by the lawyer who performed a portion of the assignment.
3. Files will move among a number of lawyers, the constant question being, "Who's got the file now?"

Many lawyers who keep hundreds of files loosely in their offices say that they are keeping them because they may get a call involving the file, and they do not want the client to have to wait until his papers are found and delivered from the file room. This simply is a misconception of the reaction which the client would have. For the lawyer to have the file immediately available (assuming that he can find it) makes his office seem less busy. To have to send to the file room for the file, while the lawyer and the client chat, gives the appearance of a business office with control over the files of its clients. Besides, most telephone calls are handled without reference to a file.

In this discussion of centralized and decentralized files, we have been referring to active files only. Closed files are almost always held in a central facility.

Filing Systems

The four alternative systems for storing files are alphabetical, numerical, geo-graphical, and topical. Most law firms use either the alphabetical or numerical system. There are advantages to either. The system adopted should depend on the volume of files, whether files are centrally stored or decentralized, and other factors.

In an office generating relatively few files, alphabetical filing is preferred. The basic method of storage, the alphabet, eliminates the interim step of finding a file number and enables any clerk to retrieve a stored file quickly.

As volume increases, however, complexities develop when an alphabetical system is used. Client names may be confused. For example, clients may include Robert W. Lee, individually, as well as Robert W. Lee and Company, Inc.; Lee and Company may have subsidiaries which will further confuse the filing situation. Rules must then be developed as to how certain types of names are filed. (How shall the new clerk file the 3M Company folder?)

When a filing system becomes a little too large for alphabetical filing, it may be possible to divide the files into smaller groups and to remain in an alphabetical mode. For example, files may be segregated by types of matter, such as probate estates, litigation, real estate, and general. When this approach is used, the file folders used for each group of files should be distinctly different to avoid misfiling. A simple way to accomplish this is to use different colored folders. Not even the newest employee is likely to file a green folder into the middle of all the pink ones.

Many law offices have found that even with such guides, the alphabetical filing system is no longer workable as volume increases. Certain studies also indicate that the use of numbers over the use of letters provides more accuracy and fewer errors in filing and retrieval.

The firm that wishes to use numbers as a means of locating and placing files has a variety of choices to make in the development of a numbering system and the uses to which the various numbers are put. Note, however that when the use of numbers also applies to the accounting functions of the law firm, the same numbering system should be used for filing, accounting and computer processing.

[a] Straight Numbering. A straight numbering system assigns a file number to each matter as it is opened, in sequential order. In firms large enough to have filing departments, and where attorneys no longer wish to secure files for themselves, this is perhaps the least complicated number system.

[b] Client/File Numbering. In offices where it is desired that all folders for each client be kept together, it is practical to adopt a method of client/file numbering. Under this system, each client receives a permanent client number, which is followed by the sequential number, as in straight numbering, for each file. Client No. 197, therefore, may have the following files: 197/1001, 197/2685, 197/3892.

A basic rule of filing is that each identifying digit added greatly increases the likelihood of misfiles. Shorter numbers are easier to remember.

[c] Calendar Numbering. The use of calendar numbering systems is common in law firms. A calendar system involves a prefix which refers to the year in which the file was opened, such as 74-1,74-2, 74-3.

One of the advantages of calendar numbering is that it is possible to deter-mine from the exterior of the file folder which files may be ready for closing or need follow-up.

[d] Code Numbering. A common practice in smaller firms and in firms with branch offices is to use a code letter before the file number itself. For example, file number WJ100 may mean that the file is the responsibility of Attorney William Jones.

[e] Alpha-Numeric. Some of the advantages of alphabetical filing and numerical filing are combined in alpha-numeric systems. The basic alpha-numeric arrangement has been used in business for many years. It consists of assigning numbers to certain portions of the alphabet, based on research into the frequency of appearance of that set of alphabetical characters in the English language.

Standard alpha-numeric breakdowns can be obtained from companies specializing in filing supplies, and dividers both for drawer and shelf filing can be purchased. The advantage which alpha-numeric systems provide is that the files are retrieved by alphabetical designation but re-filed by numerical designation, increasing filing speed as much as six times.
Law offices implementing a numbering system for automation of accounting functions by computer often find an alpha-numeric system useful. In addition to the benefit of having alphabetical files in numerical sequence, alphabetical accounting ledger cards and alphabetical file index cards also remain in alphanumeric sequence.

[f] Number/Alpha. Another common type of filing system, but one which generally should be avoided, is the client number
followed with an alphabetical character for the sub-files for the client. For example, the first file for client 197 might be designated as 197-A and the second 197-B and so forth. Difficulties arise with this type of filing when any client grows to the point where the firm is handling many matters. The twenty-seventh matter for a given client is generally designated as AA and the twenty-eighth, BB, etc. However, some clerical personnel inevitably decide to call the twenty-seventh file A-l and twenty-eighth A-2, etc., leading to an eventual variation in numbering systems from one client's files to another and to such file designations as 197-AAA-3, which becomes much too difficult to handle.

[g] Security Coding. Firms having sensitive matters, such as potential corporate mergers, or newsworthy divorce matters, are well advised to maintain such files in a locked cabinet and to index through the use of a coded identification. One firm has determined to code the names of its clients by using only the consonants of the client's name on the index card. In this way, the index card is undecipherable to any outsider.

[h] Combination Filing-Tickler System. Collection firms have developed a system of storing files by the next come-up date, which will, of course, work in any type of practice with similar needs. To make the system work, you need file folders with five different tab cuts. In addition, file folders or labels should be color coded.

1-One of the five vowels and one color are assigned to each cut. For example:
 

• Cut 1-A-white
• Cut 2-E-yellow
• Cut 3-I-red
• Cut 4-O-blue
• Cut 5-U-green

The cut and color used is determined by the second vowel in the debtor's name. For example: Altaian-A, We/1-I, Antique-I. This combination of cut and color simplifies finding the file when it is not stored in alphabetical or numerical sequence; and in this system, it is not. Instead, the file is placed behind a divider for the next review date.

When a file is needed before its come-up date, it is a relatively simple matter to scan the one-fifth of files stored in a like manner, to locate the correct one. Obviously, this system will work only as long as the number of files included is rather limited, and the files themselves are not large and bulky.

Active, Suspense, and Dead Files

One of the reasons for filing problems, crowded files, filing errors, and the inability to find files when they are needed is the failure to distinguish between those files which are active and will be regularly required, those files which are in a suspense status and will not be called for often, and those files which are completely inactive. The methods used for the handling of these three types of files are different.

Inactive (dead) files are generally those matters which have no continuing value and which have been closed for some time. The need for these files is so rare that they need not be on the premises or even promptly available.

Suspense files are those which are likely to be needed in the future, but probably after a long period of time. Last year's tax return files are a typical example of suspense files.

Suspense Files: Files which fall into the suspense category should be segregated from the active files of the office. The fewer files that have to be searched to find a requested file, the lower the likelihood of error and the greater the speed of retrieval.

Suspense files may be held, as space permits, in a less desirable section of an office suite, or they may even be sent to a nearby warehouse where they can be retrieved within a few hours.

Closed Files: When work on a file is completed, the recall frequency diminishes rapidly over a period of months. At the end of twelve months, a closed file for a non-continuing client has less than a one-in-a-hundred chance of being needed again.
Many law firms maintain, within their active filing systems, files which have received no work or attention for five, ten, or even fifteen years. There is no reason for these files to remain as expensive tenants in the regularly used filing area.

The best method for numbering closed files is sequentially, as they are closed. The first closed filed would be numbered
C-1, the second C-2, etc. The purpose in avoiding the reuse of active file numbers, or suspense numbers, is to keep closed files in order, adding to the last group only. Interfiling of closed files presents a logistics problem.

Personal Files of Attorneys

The personal files of attorneys, particularly of the owners of the business, should be allowed some office storage space, but care must be taken to prevent this type of file from taking more than its fair share of room. Many firms have attorneys who are active on school boards, service clubs, and on fund drives. The current year's school files or the current fund campaign records are legitimate matters to be kept in a law firm's file room or an attorney's office, but when these files reach back many years and take more than a few feet of space from the legal files of the firm, something should be done.

Retention Schedules

If the management in a law firm or legal department is willing to take action, it is possible to settle many retention questions in advance through the preparation of a retention schedule.

Preparing a retention schedule takes time. Personnel must be allocated to the task until it is completed. Each type of work which the firm handles must be listed and a decision made on each of the following questions:
 

1. What will be the trigger which will set the retention plan into action?
2. What papers can be returned to the client or the corporate department which the lawyer represented?
3. What kinds of papers can be destroyed?
4. How long should the resulting materials be held in the file room or in storage?
5. Are there any special papers which should be held indefinitely?
6. Should certain items be microfilmed at some point?

Evolving a policy is a time-consuming process, requiring the advice of lawyer personnel to determine the Statute of Limitations involved, or any federal or state requirements for retention of certain types of materials.

Destroying Files

The old method to get rid of legal files was burning them. Restrictions on burning in metropolitan areas have resulted in having to find other ways to dispose of files. Care should be taken to find the right way.

Shredders can be purchased for handling bulky destruction jobs. However, a shredder with large capacity is quite expensive, and often the expense is not justified because, after an initial wholesale file cleanout, it will be used only occasionally. Recycling without shredding is a good answer, if a suitable company can be located nearby. An alternative is to coordinate with other lawyers or with clients who own commercial shredders. Many microfilm service agencies will also arrange for properly safeguarded file destruction.

Wills Files

There are many ways for handling files involving the preparation of a will.

A separate index to wills is a must. This may be in addition to the general index. Checking for previous clients' names is somewhat easier if the estate-planning clients' names appear in the general index as well as in a special wills index, and if there is only one place to look for all clients.

All originals of wills retained by the firm should be kept in a fire and theft resistant place. Many law firms are still using grand-dad's old safe for this purpose. While old safes may be impressive works of art, they are seldom very good protective devices. The insulating material in them has often deteriorated to the point of providing no fire protection and most could be opened by an apprentice plumber. Any safe over SO years of age should be checked by an expert and, if inadequate, should be replaced by fire-resistant file cabinets or a new safe, or the contents should be moved to a bank vault.

Copies of wills and important supporting data should be retained in some accessible spot. Authors' drafts and notes of phone calls and the like should be discarded when the will is executed. Any notes which have a bearing on the interpretation of the contents of the will should be stamped "Do Not Destroy" and then retained.

Usually, these procedures will reduce a will file to a fraction of an inch in thickness. It is useful if all closed will files are kept together. This may be achieved by setting aside a block of closed file numbers or by moving the files alphabetically to a "wills file cabinet. The total number of wills files should not become too bulky.

When the testator has rewritten his will, or died, and his estate probated with the latest will, the superseded wills files should be destroyed.

Out Cards

A cause of many problems in file retrieval can be alleviated through the use of a simple out card which may be purchased at any stationery store. Out cards are "standard operating procedures" in most file rooms outside of the legal profession. It is surprising how many lawyers resist their use.

The out card is a printed card the size of a file folder and contains lines for the insertion of the initials of the person removing a file, the file number, and the file name. The card is completed and placed in the file cabinet in the location where the file was removed. This simple act of courtesy to the next person who is looking for the file will save a great deal of wasted office time.

Forms Files and Work Product Files

Although the form files and work product files are not strictly functions of the filing department, their upkeep is often assigned to that staff. These two kinds of files are more rightfully the function of the library, since they provide raw materials for the handling of legal matters. If published form books and reference books are kept in the law library, why not loose forms and self-produced reference sources as well?

Inventory maintenance of supplies in a printed form file is a clerical function, while deciding what form to keep in stock is not. A lawyer must be assigned the job of making this initial determination and reviewing the collection regularly. A simple inventory control to prevent being caught short can be installed in any firm by simply putting a full sheet of colored paper in each legal form supply file, 12 copies from the last one, and typing ordering directions on it. Any secretary who comes to the inventory sheet can remove it and give it to the file clerk or another person in charge of reordering.

It is a useful plan to separate federal, state and local forms within the cabinet in which they are kept, and to provide an index to the contents. This will prevent most of the thumbing through the supply and the damage to forms which can result.

Ticklers and Come-Ups

Operation Generally: Insurance companies which insure against lawyer errors have recently added questions to their renewal and application forms, requiring some description of the tickler or docket plan used by the applying law firm. Generally, they look for a plan administered by employees who have the control of deadlines as a part of their responsibility. The lawyer's calendar is no longer enough.

Some law firms can meet the challenge of deadlines through the use of a duplicate clerical calendar or diary into which is entered information identical to that entered in the lawyer's diary. However, for this duplicate diary system to work, it is necessary that it be checked daily to ensure accuracy.

Another more complicated but more comprehensive and accurate tickler system may be maintained through the use of a
moving tickler card on each matter being handled by the firm.

With a card tickler, each file is either being worked on, with the card being retained in a "hold" section of the tickler file drawer, or the tickler card is being held at a future date section of the drawer for attention near the deadline time.

The tickler file drawer need only be a simple 3" X 5" card tray obtained at any stationery store. In this drawer the system will require a series of date dividers, one for each day of a month, one for each month, and several for the next few years. If a matter is required to be ticklered for August 15, for example, the clerk in charge will locate the month of August and place the card in a general position for the middle of the month. As the month of July moves along to the 15th, she will move the date divider which was located on July 15th, to August 15th, and place the card behind the divider. By the time the month of August arrives, all ticklers for that month will be in date order.

Moving Card Tickler: Rosemont Forms, PO Box 224, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, offers a Simple Tickler System which utilizes three color-coded slips. The tickler form has space for matter, file number, action required, first reminder, second reminder and attorney. A first notice copy and a final notice copy are filed by date, and the third copy by the client. If action is completed ahead of schedule or if a come-up date must be changed, the locator client copy directs the secretary to the copies filed by date.

Annual Legal Checkup-Corporate Client

Some years ago, several bar organizations published and promoted Annual Legal Check-Up kits to be used by lawyers with individual clients. The purpose of the kits was to provide a pattern of questions to determine if there were any tax or estate problems which a client needed to review. The Annual Legal Check-Up for individuals did not make great inroads with the legal profession, because relatively few clients required such frequent attention and also because the lawyers themselves were too busy to remind clients of the need.

Where a corporation has a regular relationship with a law firm, however, there is a definite need to review its situation each year in advance of the annual meeting. Lawyers who function as corporate counsel have a responsibility to ensure that the corporation is maintained in legal order.

Each corporation should have a permanent tickler card to remind the responsible lawyer of its required meetings and tax dates in advance of these times. A month or so before the annual meeting date, the tickler should bring the client to the lawyer's attention. The attorney must then be prepared to obtain information required for the annual meeting. To do so, he may use a simple form such as the one which follows.

Annual Corporation Checklist

In the past year, have any of the following events occurred and if so, please give particulars, making special reference to dates of occurrences. Also please note any related questions which you might have.
 

1. Has any director, officer or shareholder died, resigned, sold or given away his stock in the corporation?
2. Have any new officers, directors or executives been employed?
3. Has the corporation changed accountants? If so, give name and address of new accountants.
4. Has the corporation borrowed any money from any financial institution or from any personal lender, especially officers or stockholders?
5. Has the corporation purchased or leased any substantial new assets?
6. Has any tax return of the corporation or of any shareholder been examined by the IRS or any other taxing authority?
7. Has the corporation changed its insurance coverage or insurance carrier?
8. Has the corporation reviewed its insurance coverage?
9. Has any substantial casualty loss (fire, wind, flood, etc.) been incurred?
10. Has any of the corporation's property, real or personal, been condemned by the state or federal government or have you heard any rumors that might cause you to believe that the possibility of such a condemnation exists?
11. Has the corporation received any notice of legal proceedings against it?
12. Has the corporation lent any funds to shareholders?
13. Has the corporation purchased any real estate or does it contemplate purchasing any real estate in the near future?
14. Has the corporation begun doing any business in states other than ? If so, please describe briefly.
15. Has the corporation paid any bonus to employees, officers, shareholders or directors? If so, list them below.
16. Has any employee, officer or director or shareholder of the corporation attended any meeting, convention, seminar or training courses pertaining to the corporation's business activities?
17. Has the corporation installed any new employee benefit programs, e.g. health insurance, life insurance, thrift plans, which have not been reviewed by our office?
18. If the corporation has existing pension, profit sharing or salaried savings plans, have the percentages or contributions by the corporation or employees been changed during the year?
19. Has the corporation granted any options or sold or given any of its stock to any of its shareholders, officers, directors or employees?
20. Does your latest profit and loss statement show accumulation of earnings or retained earnings in excess of $100,000.00?
21. If any of the corporation's subsidiaries, divisions, product lines or operations are marginally profitable or are unprofitable, indicate below whether the corporation intends to liquidate or divest itself of the entities.
22. If the corporation has seriously considered any offer of merger or proposal of acquisition in the present fiscal year, please include a brief description of such considerations and their outcome.
23. If the corporation has installed a program of corporate reimbursement of medical and dental expenses for its officers, shareholders, directors or employees, please include the details of that program and list the amounts reimbursed and the names of the recipients.
24. Has the corporation entered into any negotiations or given any serious consideration to selling any of its large assets or any portion of its operations?
25. Are you aware of any pending or potential labor problems?

Signature Title

Wills Ticklers: Once an attorney represents an estate planning client, he creates a continuing relationship and is obliged to maintain appropriate contact with his client. If the tax laws are changed, the lawyer is also obligated to let clients know that their wills may have to be reviewed.

A tickler reminder of estate plans which a law firm has prepared can be maintained through the moving tickler system or through a single 3" X 5" card. The will tickler card should be created when the will is executed and it should contain information on (1) the name of the testator, (2) the name of the executor or executrix (3) the location of the original will (did the client take it or does the firm have it) and (4) any special provision which may be affected by the tax laws, i.e. marital deduction clause. This card would be filed in a tickler box so that it will "come up" three or four years in the future. When the tickler comes up, the lawyer should contact the client to see whether the client wants to have his estate plan reviewed.

If there is a major change in tax law affecting estate planning, the lawyer can remove all ticklers from the will tickler system to obtain a list of clients who should be informed of the fact that their estate planning should be amended accordingly.
The tickler card system serves as an easy way to assure that all wills written by the office will receive periodic review and that changes in the tax laws will be called to clients' attention.

Library Controls and Procedures for the Small Legal Office

The many books and pamphlets which a legal organization collects form the central source for precedent information and advice necessary to the effective practice of law. The proper control of this printed (or microfilmed) body of knowledge requires systematization and forethought.

Supervision: The degree of sophistication and the educational specialization of the person or persons in charge of the library will increase with the size of the office and the number of volumes represented in the collection. The small law firm may assign to a clerk or secretary the library function as part of his or her duties. In the somewhat larger firm, it may be a full-time job and assigned to a former legal secretary. An organization of fifty lawyers cannot function properly without a designated librarian.

A trained librarian has a degree in library science and requires a salary equal to or greater than that of a high school teacher. In the administration of a large legal library, a law degree, in addition to a library science degree, is a valuable, although not the primary, educational requirement. The special disciplines and techniques of library training are far more important to the proper functioning of a legal library than those usually provided in the course of obtaining a law degree.

Supervision of a firm's law library is not a responsibility to give to an employee who previously could not cope with other duties. It is an important and responsible position requiring ingenuity and patience and the ability to attend to many details.
Controlling Book Purchases: The decision to purchase or not to purchase a certain volume may be assigned by the firm to one or more lawyers, but the clerical process of placing the order, receiving the purchase, indexing the volume, and ordering payment, should always be assigned to a single person.

Purchases of new books may be controlled through the use of a "New Book Purchase Card”: Items ordered from the same publisher or one of many items of similar name, it is necessary that the identification include some code or key reference to the specific item included in the payment, generally the invoice number.

Cataloging: A card catalog of all available publications should be maintained as a basic user tool of any library. Only with a catalog can the existence of a particular volume or series of books be verified by someone searching for information.
Each volume should have one "Main Index Card" which lists the item by author and title. For research purposes, subject index cards must also be prepared to lead the user by topic heading to the proper volume. The main index card should show all subject indexes so that all cards can be pulled if the book is removed from the collection at some future time.

These references to subject headings are called "tracings." Subject cards should be prepared with as many headings as are necessary to lead a user to the source he requires. A separate list of subject headings used in the card catalog should be kept and used when making up catalog cards, so that terms will be consistent.

Controlling Circulation: The best way to control book circulation in a law library is to station a librarian at the door and to require standard library sign-out procedures. This system is impractical in most private law libraries and it is generally necessary to rely on cooperation from those using the library in order to maintain some semblance of order.

A common sign-out method involves noting the removal of the book on a legal pad placed near the library door. The attorney removing the book is required to place the name of the publication, his or her initials, and the date of removal on the pad. This system, unfortunately, does not work well. A lawyer in the midst of a research project has other things to think about and will often neglect to write the charge-out information. Further, the searching through a long list on a charge-out pad to discover the whereabouts of a needed volume is time consuming and inconvenient. The sign-out system usually falls apart because it simply is not followed.

Perhaps the best and most familiar library system for controlling charge-out of books involves the placement of a pocket and a pre-identified charge card in the back of every volume. The user merely places his or her initials and the date on the charge card and deposits it at some convenient location near the library door or working area. Someone else must interfile these charge cards in order to make locating a missing book easier. This system probably works better than the aforementioned systems, but even it will have problems unless monitored by a librarian or clerk on a regular basis.