In a typical office file cabinet, drawers simply contain a range of file folders. For example, if the file folders are filed alphabetically, a drawer may contain a range of letters, such as A-G.
We recommend a different way of using drawers in FileCenter. Instead of using a single drawer to store a range of unrelated file folders, we suggest that you have one drawer for each client or matter. This provides a very clean organizational model where a drawer contains only a small number of directly relevant folders and files.
For example, Kim Attorney has many clients so she uses one drawer per client, with sub-folders for each case or matter she handles for the client. Bob Litigator, on the other hand, handles many cases for a handful of clients. He finds it preferrable to have one drawer for each case he handles, with topical folders in the drawer to organize the case files. Create your drawers in a way that simplifies your organizational structure and gives you the quickest access to your files.
There are many benefits to using one drawer for each client or matter. Locating files becomes as easy as opening the right drawer. And the chances of mis-filing a document are greatly reduced because you are not dealing with a complex organizational hierarchy. Moreover, archiving old files becomes a simple mouse-click process (see Archiving Drawers).