Stephen Knox

To most in the legal community, Knox Attorney Services Inc. is indispensable.

Founded by Stephen Knox in 1972 and headquartered in San Diego, Knox Services handles every conceivable facet of document management, from serving subpoenas and filing papers to pulling hospital records and electronic scanning.

Company officials provide much of the pretrial legwork for attorneys, especially during the discovery process.

"We can offer more services to people in San Diego than anybody else," said Knox, who likens his company to three or four different businesses acting under one banner.

One of those varied operations is facility management, where Knox Services will not only copy documents but provide the machines, technical support and personnel to run it. A Knox employee, in effect, takes over a firm's mailroom. Another purpose is getting motions and similar papers to the courthouse before the deadline expires, often operating in a short time frames.