subject: Finding A Quality Court Filing Service [print this page] Legal firms need to have a good legal filing service on hand if they don't quickly want to be buried under the mountain of paperwork which could very quickly overwhelm them otherwise. The best way to do this is to take some time to shop around in order to find the best filing service that you could possible use. Also, it can be worthwhile to look into the existing courier service that you use to see if they also have filing services, as many have branched off in this area.
Usually this is a concern that is going to face someone that is either starting a new firm, or starting a firm in a new city. Therefore, the best thing to do is to get some advice from those that are already in your situation. Find some peers or colleagues with firms that are having success with their current filing services. Most will be happy to provide you with some phone numbers, and that is a great place to start your research.
Next on the list is going to be a cost comparison. While you can't say that cost and quality are equivocally the same thing, in today's business world cost is not a factor that can easily be ignored. In order to make sure that you are going to hire a filing service that is going to give you fair value for your money, call around to several and inquire about their prices in order to find out what the fair competitive rate is. Don't just go for the cheapest company though, as you do get what you pay for.
Also, take the time to look into what other services the filing company might offer other than just retrieving your documents. Some might have excellent supplemental services that can make dealing with them much more enjoyable. This includes things like scanning services in case you ever need some specific information. Also, some companies will offer document destruction services so you can have shredded what you no longer need, and have the rest filed.
If you really don't know anyone in the city that you're starting your firm in, ask prospective filing companies for references. They should be able to give you contact information for at least a few legal firms that have used their services in the past that should be willing to give you a relatively unbiased opinion.
