How do I rename scanned court documents automatically?

First make sure the scans are searchable, by running text recognition if they are not. Then use a script or tool that reads the number behind a specific label, such as Your ref, and only accepts numbers on your list of open matters. Anything that does not match goes to a person to check.

What is a good file naming convention for a law firm?

Matter number first, then the date on the document as year, month, day, then a document type from a short fixed list, then the party or court. For example, 24017 2026-03-04 Affidavit Smith.pdf. The exact pattern matters less than everyone using the same one.

Can I put a court file number in a file name?

Not as written if it contains a slash, such as 1234/2026, because Windows does not allow slashes in file names. Replace the slash with a hyphen, or keep the court number out of the name and rely on your matter number.

Do Australian courts have file naming rules for eFiling?

The guidance we read from Australian courts set rules on file format and size, not file names. Each court publishes its own practice directions, so check the one for the court you are filing in.

Is it safe to upload client documents to an online renaming tool?

It depends on the tool and on your obligations. Find out where documents are processed and how long they are kept before uploading anything, and check your law society's guidance on cloud services. If the tool does not say clearly, use a method that keeps files on your own computer.

Guide

How to rename and file scanned court documents by matter number

The scanner has produced a folder of files called scan0043.pdf, and each one belongs to a matter. You want them named and filed so anyone in the practice can find them. Almost every page ranking for this is from one company selling an automatic renamer. None of them start with the method that needs no renaming at all, or the problem that is special to legal documents: a single page often carries three different reference numbers.

Short answer

If your practice management software can scan straight into a matter, use that and there is nothing to rename. Otherwise, name each document at the moment you scan it, because that is when you know which matter it belongs to, and if you automate it, only accept a matter number that exists in your list of open matters.

First, check whether you need to rename anything

Most Australian small practices run LEAP, Smokeball, Actionstep or something like them. These systems keep documents inside the matter, so a file's name matters far less than where it was saved. If scans can go straight into the matter, the renaming problem disappears.

Smokeball's help pages say a scanner plugged into your computer, such as a ScanSnap, can scan straight to a matter, but network and multifunction office scanners are not supported for this, and files from those should be imported instead. For LEAP, the routes we found are its mobile app, an HP printer app called Docs2me that scans to a LEAP matter number, and EzeScan, a paid capture product that files into LEAP. We found those on partner pages rather than LEAP's own documentation, so ask LEAP support which applies to your setup.

Before buying any renaming tool, spend ten minutes finding out whether your practice software can already take scans into a matter. For a lot of firms it can, and that beats every method below.

Method 1: name it at the scanner, while the paper is in your hand

The moment you know most about a document is when you are holding it. You know the matter, what it is, and who sent it. Every method that renames later has to work that out again from a picture of the page.

1Scan one document per file. A folder of single documents is easy to name. One scan of a whole morning's post is not.
2If you scan in batches, NAPS2 is a free scanning program for Windows, Mac and Linux that can split a batch into separate files wherever it finds a Patch-T separator sheet. Print a few separator sheets and put one between each document.
3Scan each matter's documents into that matter's folder, or name each file as it is saved. Typing ten characters at the scanner is quicker than opening the file again tomorrow to see what it was.
4Turn on text recognition when you scan, if your scanner software offers it. A searchable PDF can be found by its contents later, whatever it ends up being called.

Free, and it removes the backlog at the source. The only thing that beats it is scanning straight into the matter.

Method 2: a naming convention, applied by hand

For a backlog of a few dozen scans, renaming by hand is still the most reliable method. In File Explorer, View then Preview pane lets you read each document and press F2 to rename it without opening anything.

What makes it work is a fixed pattern that everyone in the practice uses the same way. A pattern that suits most small practices puts the matter number first, so a folder sorts by matter, then the document's own date as year, month, day, then a document type from a short fixed list, then the party or court.

An example: 24017 2026-03-04 Affidavit Smith.pdf. Matter number, the date on the document rather than the date it was scanned, the document type, and who it concerns.
Keep a fixed list of document types: Decide once whether it is Letter, Affidavit, Orders, Subpoena, Notice of Filing and so on, and write the list down. If one person writes Corro and another writes Correspondence, a search for either finds half the files.
Use the date on the document: The date the scan was made is meaningless a year later. The date of the orders, the letter or the affidavit is what you will search for.
Keep names short: Windows has a long standing limit on the total length of a file's full path, folders included, of 260 characters. Deep matter folders with long file names hit it, and the file then fails to copy or open in some programs.

Slow for a large backlog, but a person reading the page knows which number is the matter number. As the next section shows, that is the hard part for software.

The legal document problem: three numbers on one page

This is what generic renaming tools miss. An invoice usually has one obvious number. A court document or a letter from the other side commonly carries several, and only one of them is your matter number.

Your own matter number: The number your practice software gives the matter. This is what you file by.
The court file number: The number the court registry gives the proceeding. Many Australian courts write it with a slash, such as 1234/2026. Windows does not allow a slash in a file name, so a tool that copies it straight across will either fail or quietly change it. Decide whether you replace the slash with a hyphen or leave the court number out of the name.
The other side's reference: A letter from another firm shows their reference as Our ref, and yours as Your ref. Software looking for the label Our ref will pick up the other firm's number and file the letter under a matter that does not exist, or worse, one that does. On incoming letters, the number you want follows Your ref.

Whatever method you use, it has to know which label your number sits behind on each kind of document. Taking the first number on the page will be wrong a lot of the time.

Method 3: a script, if your scans are searchable

Open a scan and try to highlight a line of text. If you can, the file has a text layer and a free script can read it. If you cannot, run text recognition first, with your scanner software, NAPS2 or Adobe Acrobat. Our guide on renaming scanned documents covers that step.

Matter numbers have one big advantage over invoice numbers. They are your own, so you know their exact format and you have the complete list of valid ones.

1Export a list of open matter numbers from your practice software into a spreadsheet or text file.
2Pull the text out of each PDF. PyMuPDF in Python or the free pdftotext command both do this.
3Look for your number behind the labels you use, such as Your ref on incoming letters, or in the place your own cover sheets put it.
4Only accept a number that is on your list of open matters. Anything else, including a number that looks right but is not on the list, goes into a review folder for a person.
5Rename to your convention and move each file into its matter folder. Run it on a copy first, never the originals.

Checking every match against your own list of matters is the single most useful check in this whole guide. A misread digit will rarely produce another real, open matter, so this one step turns most silent misfiles into a short list for a person to look at.

Before you upload client documents to anything

Online renaming services work by sending your documents to their servers to be read. For an invoice, that is a business decision. For a client's court documents, it is a confidentiality question, and possibly a privilege one.

We are not giving legal advice on your professional obligations, and your law society's guidance on cloud services is the place to check. The practical habits are simple.

Find out where files go and how long they stay: Look for a clear statement of where documents are processed, how long they are kept, and who can see them. The guides we read from the renaming site that ranks for this search say files are kept private and secure, but did not spell out retention or where processing happens. If you cannot find that in writing, do not upload client documents.
Keep the original untouched: Renaming a file does not change its contents. Running text recognition does, because it writes a new version of the PDF with a text layer added. Keep the sealed or served copy exactly as it came, and work on a copy.
Check the court's own rules before filing: The court guidance we read covered file formats and size limits rather than file names. The Federal Circuit and Family Court, for example, asks for PDF and limits documents eFiled through the Commonwealth Courts Portal to 30MB. Check the practice directions for the court you are filing in, not a renaming vendor's summary of them.

When paid capture software is the better answer

If the practice scans a large volume every day, or several people scan into the same matters, capture software built for legal practices does this properly. EzeScan, for example, says it can look up matter and client details and file text searchable PDFs into LEAP. The renaming service that currently ranks for this search reads scans and renames them automatically, and it suits a practice that is comfortable sending files to it.

These cost money and take setting up. A sole practitioner or small firm scanning a handful of documents a day is usually better served by scanning into the matter, or naming at the scanner.

A handful a day: name it at the scanner. A backlog: a convention and a script checked against your matter list. A whole office scanning all day: capture software that talks to your practice system.

Where Once fits, honestly

Once, our own tool, reads PDFs and scans and renames and files them by details it finds on the page, and it runs on your own computer, so client documents are not uploaded anywhere. For legal documents, that is the main reason to consider it over an online renamer.

It was built for invoices and similar documents. We have not tested it on court documents, and it does not know your matter list or the difference between Our ref and Your ref unless you point it at the right field. If you try it on a backlog, check the first batch by hand, and tell us how it went.

Common questions

How do I rename scanned court documents automatically?: First make sure the scans are searchable, by running text recognition if they are not. Then use a script or tool that reads the number behind a specific label, such as Your ref, and only accepts numbers on your list of open matters. Anything that does not match goes to a person to check.
What is a good file naming convention for a law firm?: Matter number first, then the date on the document as year, month, day, then a document type from a short fixed list, then the party or court. For example, 24017 2026-03-04 Affidavit Smith.pdf. The exact pattern matters less than everyone using the same one.
Can I put a court file number in a file name?: Not as written if it contains a slash, such as 1234/2026, because Windows does not allow slashes in file names. Replace the slash with a hyphen, or keep the court number out of the name and rely on your matter number.
Do Australian courts have file naming rules for eFiling?: The guidance we read from Australian courts set rules on file format and size, not file names. Each court publishes its own practice directions, so check the one for the court you are filing in.
Is it safe to upload client documents to an online renaming tool?: It depends on the tool and on your obligations. Find out where documents are processed and how long they are kept before uploading anything, and check your law society's guidance on cloud services. If the tool does not say clearly, use a method that keeps files on your own computer.

Solven builds custom software and automation for Australian businesses. If you have a job like this that no tool quite fits, that is the work we do.

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