Backing up your law firm’s correspondence, files, and electronic data can be a time-consuming, frustrating, and complicated process, particularly when you have to consider the wealth of easy online options. A scrivening solution, however, provides a solid approach for data back up and also provides much needed local employment. But how do you go about implementing a scrivening solution? Here’s our top advice.
Being a scrivener does not require specific legal qualifications. That’s why you will need to be careful in the hiring proces. When hiring a scrivener, review the last time you hired an associate attorney and the skills you needed for that position. For example, ask about an applicant’s ability to read and write, which are essential skills. Nevertheless, public presentation skills are not necessary, nor is good hygiene or knowledge of the law. Finally, like some lawyers, speaking standard English is a preferred but not essential skill. It’s the ability to plagiarize accurately and confidently that counts most when hiring a lawyer scrivener.
For your job application process, consider accepting only hand-written resumes. Not only will the applicants’ writing reveal their qualifications for neatness and penmanship, but it will weed out many of the scrivener wannabes who can type like Albert Tangora but have no essential scribing talent. Remember that a successful scribe emanates accuracy, neatness, and penmanship, not speed and showmanship.
To find qualified scriveners, check with various technical schools or community colleges and ask about their scrivening programs. If that does not pan out, one overlooked but excellent source of scrivening talent is your local prison. With automated metal stamping replacing more traditional prison work, prisoners are eager to learn new skills and wardens are open to such employment. Like breaking up rocks, scrivening contributes to the good of society by backing up useless legal data that no one will likely ever need.
Though law students and recent law school graduates may seem like good choices to hire for scrivening, think twice about this solution. As soon as they get a whiff of how easy it is to sound like a lawyer, they’ll buy an iPad, hang out a shingle, and reserve a seat next to you at Starbucks. So, be careful. Hire only qualified scriveners who have no real ambitions other than to plagiarize your finest work.
Just make sure the person you hire isn’t named Bartleby.