The end of the paper trail is near, at least for one local law firm that has converted its documents into a digital format.

When paper documents enter the offices of downtown law firm Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel, they are scanned into a database, filed according to company policy and then shredded and recycled.

Two years ago, the law firm made a commitment to reusing, reducing and recycling documents.

In January, the firm began implementing measures to meet the joint American Bar Association-Environmental Protection Agency Climate Challenge, a program designed to encourage law offices to take practical steps to help the environment.

Today, its 25 attorneys do double-sided printing, conserve energy by shutting down computers at night and on weekends, and send letters using letterhead and envelopes made from at least 30 percent post-consumer recycled content.

“Lawyers find safety and security being surrounded by and holding onto paper,” said Madeline Clark Cahill, a partner in the San Diego office of Sullivan Hill. “But once you realize the efficiencies of being able to go online and scan a file in real time while on the phone with a client, or opposing counsel or the court … holding onto your paper doesn’t have to be the safety blanket it has been in the past.”

Law offices, by nature, tend to use large quantities of paper.

An informal survey conducted by the law firm of Arnold & Porter of eight law firms, ranging in size from small to large, found that copier and printer paper use ranged from about 20,000 to 100,000 sheets per attorney in 2006.

Those numbers equate to about 10 to 50 sheets per hour of work.

About two years ago, the ABA decided to offer law firms guidance about how to reduce their carbon footprint. About 60 law firms have participated in the agency’s climate challenge, according to the ABA.

David Friedland, a shareholder in the Washington, D.C., office of Beveridge & Diamond and vice chairman of the ABA’s Air Quality Committee, says his office formed a “green team” to better manage its practices. Recently, he said, the office’s supply room employees noticed its refrigerator temperature set unnecessarily low.

Friedland admits, though, that going green isn’t always easy.

“It takes some getting used to,” he said of his own firm’s double-sided printing practices.