Help with getting your data and documents into Openlaw

Openlaw is designed to hold:

• Data - text and other coding information about the documents in your case

• 'Images' of each document, which may be:

  • scanned paper documents in multipage TIF or PDF files

  • electronic files such as Microsoft Word files in .DOC format, Microsoft Excel files in .XLS format, e-mail message files from Microsoft Outlook in .MSG format or other files which your workstation is able to view, in their native format.

Data entry

Openlaw is designed to make it easy for your own team of secretaries and other staff to do the data entry of objective (e.g. Letter, from A, to B, dated …) and subjective (e.g. Privileged, Category – Liability etc) information into Openlaw.

However, where appropriate (e.g. because deadlines are tight or volumes are large), you may prefer to use a specialist third party litigation support service provider (bureau) to do this.

Sometimes the data will already exist in electronic format, in a word processed list, a spreadsheet, or in some format available from another party.

You may be able to use one of our Openlaw Add-ons to help with the import.

If not, in all such cases it is usually quicker and cheaper for us, or a bureau, to convert the data rather than for it to be typed in again. 

Adding Scanned Paper Documents

If you have your own scanner you can scan paper documents for use in Openlaw.  If you use our barcoding software the process is much easier.  However, where appropriate (e.g. because deadlines are tight or volumes are large), you may prefer to use a specialist third party litigation support service provider (bureau) to do this.

Scanning paper documents

If you have existing electronic documents you can easily put these into Openlaw.  If you want to keep their existing names or locations, we can programmatically add them to Openlaw using Openlaw Cataloguer.

Specialist Third Party Service Providers (Bureaux)

There are several bureaux who will produce scanned images from the paper documents and who will do some or all of your data entry into Openlaw. We can introduce you to one, or can help you set up your own scanning and coding facility if you want to keep the data entry in-house.

Specialist third party service providers offer a scanning and coding service starting from around £300 per A4 file (including scanning and coding of basic disclosure listing information). Additional services range from enhanced subjective or objective coding through to management of the complete project.

Click here for details of bureaux including those we have worked with.