Legal Industry Case Study Findings

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Digital Signature Solutions for the Legal Industry

Esign is used as a cost-effective solution to significantly speed up the process of collecting eSignatures verified on key documents, such as contracts, agreements and policy documents, enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing your brand reputation, as well as significantly improving business productivity and reducing costs. Established in 2012, eSign Ltd is one of the UK’s leading electronic signature providers and is used by countless organisations across numerous sectors including legal, recruitment, real estate, financial services, debt recovery, media production, software, public sector and utilities to sign online documents.

‘The Financial and Environmental Impact of Digitising Paper Documents in the Legal Industry’

These Findings are from a Larger Report

The report is called ‘The Financial and Environmental Impact of Digitising Paper Documents in the Legal Industry’, conducted by the University of Liverpool and E-Sign (UK) Ltd. The Law Firm that participated in the study is a UK 100 law firm (referred to as ‘The Law Firm’).

Over a 12 month period after digitising the sending and receiving of new ‘matters’ to new and current clients, The Law Firm has made the following savings:

Financial savings of £284,840
Reduced signature turnaround time from 21 to 3 days
Reduction in use of 1.4 million pieces of paper
Carbon emission reduction of 8,258 CO2e

Digitise document processes

The Impact of Electronic Signatures

The Law Firm digitised their document processes with a focus on the digital sending of “matters” to new and current clients, including the Terms of Business and the Letter of Engagement. To achieve this they used E-Sign (UK) Ltd.

Document Transaction Process

A major issue in the legal sector is the administrative time, cost and effort to produce paper-based documents, and the delay in clients returning the signed document.

Traditional Paper Document Process

When organisations digitise the document process from inception, it can result in a 30-50% increase in process productivity and a 3 to 10 fold reduction in turnaround time.
The current document process now follows the below flow chart, where the turnaround time is between 1 and 3 days.

Key Findings

Since using eSign and adopting the digital document process described above, The Law Firm has made savings in a number of areas which are outlined below.

View Full Findings

Paper Savings

These paper savings were made by:

Documents sent and stored electronically
Secure instant electronic access to files to authorised personne
Electronic reminders and notifications of transactions
Clear audit trails of document history
Electronic form templates

By sending documents electronically a saving of £11,740 was made in paper procurement. As a result of the reduced usage of paper there were significant CO₂e savings:

The primary production of 1.4 million pieces of paper results in 7,616 kg CO₂e.
The waste disposal of 1.4 million pieces of paper (either by combustion or composting) generates 171 kg CO₂e.

Reduced the requirement to print documents

Print Savings

By digitising their document process and using electronic signatures, The Law firm significantly reduced the requirement to print documents to be sent to clients for signature.

As a direct result of eliminating the printing of 1.4 million pages, The Law Firm saved an estimated £105,000 on printing costs.

Reduced costs and improved workflow

Postage Savings

Savings based on the cost to send one “matter” at £2.60 (£1.60 for the actual letter and £1 for a stamped addressed envelope).
The Law Firm produces 18,000 new matters a year

18,000 x £2.60= £46,800 on postage

N.B. These figures don’t include stationary costs or the cost of resending letters due to
delays, errors, or lack of client engagement.

The reduction in CO₂e as a result was 471 kg over the year

Increase storage space

Storage Savings

Savings are based on each archive box storing 2000 sheets of paper, and being stored
for the minimum of seven years as per regulatory requirements, at a cost of £149 per box per annum.

1,400,000/2000 = 700 boxes
700 x £149 = £104,300 per annum

With a total saving over seven years of £730,100

Significantly reduce the time spent on document administration

Administration Savings

The Law Firm through the use of electronic signatures was able to significantly reduce the time spent on document administration, saving approximately 50% of the time previously spent on the various tasks outlined in the traditional document process above.

The average salary for administrative staff is £17,000 per annum (www.payscales.com), therefore savings of £8,500 per administrator with a total saving of £17,000 for The Law Firm.

Table to Show Total Savings using Electronig Signatures

Electronic Signatures

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Web Forms

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