5 Factors for Law Firms to Consider When Hiring a Document Shredding Company

These days, privacy is everything. If you are a law firm, privacy is even more important. Client information, depositions, financial records and any other form of confidential documentation can start to build up. Sure, you have to digitize most of it, but what about the tangible records that you are required to keep? There probably aren’t enough file cabinets to keep it all in. This is why it is important to purge some of this paperwork. However, you can’t simply throw it out – you need to hire a professional shredder. However, you can’t hire just any shredding company – you need to consider a few things before hand. Here are the five factors for law firms to consider when hiring a document shredding company.

1. Cost. When you are hiring a document shredding company, you want to research the cost. Some companies will charge over the industry standard, which can be inconvenient if you are trying to save a little money, or if you are on a bootstrap budget. When it comes down to it, the perfect paper shredding company will either charge a flat rate, or they will charge per bin. Both are reasonable ways to charge for document shredding, but you want to decide which is best is best for your law firm.
2. Expertise. Make sure that you choose a paper shredding company that has had plenty of experience shredding private and confidential documents. The last thing you want is to hire a company that is not familiar with shredding documents for a law firm. What can happen is that documents can get lost and wind up in places where confidential documents should not go. However, a paper shredding company that is compliant, like Global Document Solutions, will know exactly how and where to discard documents, so that you never have to worry about private or confidential information leaking out.
3. Mobility. When you are looking for a paper shredding company, you may want to look for a paper shredding service that offers house-calls. Basically, the paper shredding company will come to your business and do the shredding – instead of you coming to the paper shredding company. When you have to go to the paper shredding company’s location, you usually have to hire a hauling company, which can be an additional cost.
4. Convenience. When it comes to looking for a paper shredding company, you want a service that is available around the clock. There may be a weekend where your law firm is crunching for a big case and winds up with a lot of extra documentation that needs to be shredded. Can your paper shredding company arrive on Sunday night or early Monday morning to remove documents? Having this kind of convenience is crucial.
5. Eco-friendly. This is another important factor when it comes to document shredding. What happens to the paper after it is shredded? It may be wise to choose a document shredding company that recycles the shreds. If the document shredding company sends the shreds to be incinerated, does the incineration plant follow eco-friendly guidelines? When it comes down to it, what is good for the environment is usually good for your law firm too.