The Legal Office Printing Challenge

Tray Selector is a useful printer management utility which gives you added flexibility when printing with Microsoft Word. While it's beneficial across many industries, it has become an indispensable tool in legal offices worldwide, where document printing requirements are particularly complex and demanding.

Legal secretaries and lawyers face unique printing challenges that most office workers never encounter. A single case might require printing court filings on specific paper, client correspondence on letterhead, internal memos on plain paper, exhibits on different colored stock, and backing pages on colored paper - all from the same document or set of documents throughout the day.

Why Legal Offices Need Tray Selector

The legal profession has specific document formatting requirements that make traditional printing methods inadequate:

Court filing requirements: Specific paper types, sizes, and formatting mandated by courts
Professional presentation: Client-facing documents must use firm letterhead and premium paper
Document organization: Different paper colors for different sections or exhibits
Confidentiality marking: Watermarks indicating document sensitivity
Copy distribution: Multiple copies for different recipients with varied formatting
Time sensitivity: Legal deadlines mean no room for printing errors or delays

Time Savings That Matter

Time is literally money in legal offices. Billable hours are the lifeblood of law firms, and non-billable administrative time - including managing complex printing tasks - represents pure cost. Tray Selector saves hours of time for lawyers and legal secretaries by eliminating repetitive printing configuration tasks.

Consider a typical legal secretary's day:

Printing 20 client letters on letterhead (first page) and plain paper (remaining pages)
Printing 10 court filings with specific formatting requirements
Printing 5 contracts with exhibits on different paper types
Printing 15 internal documents in various formats

Without Tray Selector, each of these requires manually configuring printer settings - selecting printers, choosing trays, setting page ranges, and configuring other options. Even if this only takes 30 seconds per document, that's 25 minutes per day spent on printer configuration alone. Over a year, that's over 100 hours of wasted time per person!

With Tray Selector, each of these becomes a single button click. Those 25 minutes per day are freed up for billable work or other productive activities.

Real-World Legal Office Scenarios

Scenario 1: Client Correspondence

A legal secretary needs to send letters to 30 clients. Each letter must have:

First page on firm letterhead
Subsequent pages on matching plain paper
Professional quality output

Without Tray Selector: For each letter, access print settings, ensure Tray 1 is selected for page 1, Tray 2 for remaining pages, verify printer selection, print, repeat 30 times.

With Tray Selector: Click the "Client Letter" button 30 times. Done. Settings are always correct.

Scenario 2: Court Filing

A lawyer needs to file a motion with the court. Requirements:

Cover page on blue paper
Motion text on white legal-sized paper
Exhibits on white letter-sized paper
Backing page on blue paper
Three copies needed

Without Tray Selector: Print cover page separately, change paper size and print motion, change paper size again and print exhibits, change back for backing page, repeat three times. Pray you don't make a mistake because you're on a deadline.

With Tray Selector: Click the "Court Motion" button. All pages automatically route to correct trays with correct settings. Three complete sets print automatically.

Scenario 3: Contract Package

A paralegal assembles a contract package:

Cover letter on letterhead
Contract on premium white paper, duplex
Exhibits on standard paper, single-sided
Signature page on premium paper

Without Tray Selector: Multiple print jobs, changing settings between each section, ensuring duplex is on for some parts and off for others, verifying tray selection for different paper quality.

With Tray Selector: Click the "Contract Package" button. Everything prints correctly, automatically.

Features Particularly Valuable for Legal Offices

Flexibility for Different Document Types

Tray Selector addresses the fundamental problem that legal secretaries and lawyers face: printing identical or similar documents on different trays and with different paper types without manual macro creation or tedious manual intervention. The software integrates seamlessly into Microsoft Word's interface, providing one-click access to complex printing configurations.

Universal Printer Compatibility

Law firms often have multiple printers - high-quality color printers for client presentations, fast black-and-white printers for drafts, and specialized printers for legal-sized documents. Tray Selector works with all printers, allowing you to create buttons that target specific printers for specific document types.

Duplex Printing Support

Environmental concerns and cost savings make duplex printing important, but not all documents should be duplex. Legal filings often have specific requirements about single or double-sided printing. Tray Selector makes it easy to create buttons for both, eliminating confusion and errors.

Wide Word Version Support

Law firms don't always run the latest software. Tray Selector supports Microsoft Word versions from 2000 onwards, working with both older and newer versions of Windows. This means firms can benefit from Tray Selector regardless of their IT infrastructure age.

Mail Merge, Envelopes, and Labels

Legal offices frequently use mail merges for client mailings, envelopes for correspondence, and labels for document organization. Tray Selector works seamlessly with all of these Word features, applying your configured settings regardless of document type.

The Configuration Process

Setting up Tray Selector for a legal office is straightforward:

Identify common printing tasks: What documents do you print repeatedly?
Configure buttons: Set up a button for each common task with the exact settings needed
Name clearly: Use descriptive names like "Court Filing - Blue Cover" or "Client Letter - Letterhead"
Test thoroughly: Verify each button produces correct results
Share settings: Export button configurations and share them with your team
Train staff: Show everyone which button to use for which document type

Typical Button Setup for a Law Firm

Here's a recommended starting configuration for a law firm:

Button 1: "Client Letter" - First page letterhead, remaining pages plain
Button 2: "Internal Memo" - All pages plain paper, duplex
Button 3: "Court Filing" - Legal-sized paper, specific tray
Button 4: "Draft Copy" - Fast printer, plain paper, single-sided
Button 5: "Contract" - Premium paper, duplex
Button 6: "Exhibit Package" - Multiple trays for different exhibit types
Button 7: "Confidential" - With confidential watermark
Button 8: "File Copy" - Colored paper for file retention

Return on Investment

For a law firm, the ROI calculation is straightforward:

Cost: Tray Selector subscription at $4/user/month = $48/user/year

Savings:

Time savings: 25 minutes/day × 220 working days = 91 hours/year
At a legal secretary rate of $30/hour: $2,730 in time savings
Paper waste reduction: Estimated $200-500/year from fewer reprints
Reduced stress and improved accuracy: Priceless

Net benefit: Over $2,600 per user per year, with a 50:1 return on investment!

For a firm with 10 legal secretaries, that's over $26,000 in annual time savings alone.

Why Hundreds of Law Firms Choose Tray Selector

Tray Selector is used in law firms all over the world. From small practices with just a few users to large firms with several hundred lawyers, legal professionals are finding that this print software eases their many printing hassles. The reasons are clear:

Time savings: Hours per person per year freed up for billable work
Error reduction: No more accidentally printing on the wrong paper or missing pages
Professional results: Documents always look perfect, enhancing firm reputation
Reduced stress: Staff no longer worry about printer configuration
Easy training: New staff learn quickly - just click the right button
Consistency: All staff produce documents the same way
Deadline compliance: Faster printing means better deadline management

Getting Started in Your Legal Office

Implementing Tray Selector in your law firm is simple:

Start with a trial: Download the free 7-day trial and test it with your most common documents
Configure for your firm: Set up buttons matching your firm's specific needs
Train one person: Have one tech-savvy staff member learn the configuration
Share configurations: Export and share button settings with all staff
Roll out gradually: Start with one department, then expand
Gather feedback: Adjust button configurations based on actual use

Support for Legal Offices

We understand that law firms have specific needs and often tight deadlines. Our support team has extensive experience working with legal offices and can help you:

Configure buttons for common legal document types
Set up configurations that comply with court requirements
Troubleshoot printer-specific issues
Train your staff on effective use
Optimize your setup for maximum efficiency

The Bottom Line for Legal Offices

Tray Selector has become an indispensable utility in legal offices because it solves real problems that legal professionals face every day. The combination of time savings, error reduction, and stress relief makes it a valuable investment for any law firm, regardless of size.

When billable hours are what matters, and document accuracy can affect case outcomes, having reliable, one-click printing isn't a luxury - it's a necessity. That's why hundreds of law firms worldwide trust Tray Selector for their printing needs.

Ready to save hours of time in your legal office? Contact us to discuss your specific needs, or download the free trial and experience the difference yourself. Your legal secretaries and lawyers will thank you.

More from Our Blog