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In the September/October 2011issue of The Pennsylvania Lawyer, published by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, practicing attorney and technology consultant, Shannon Brown, provides a very thoughtful and informative primer on the “why’s and wherefores” of cloud computing. His article offers some important background for attorneys attempting to understand the “alphabet soup” of current cloud computing terminology.
He also outlines why it is important for attorneys to understand some of the risks associated with cloud computing, and how to mitigate those risks to insure compliance with various judicial opinions on the topic. Specifically, he cites Ethics Informal Opinion (2010-060, 1/10/2011) of the PA Bar Association’s Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, which states that attorneys may ethically allow client confidential material to be stored ‘in the cloud’ “… provided the attorney makes reasonable efforts to assure that the material is confidential.”
As Brown states, any attorney contemplating a cloud-based storage solution will need to understand what constitutes “reasonable efforts” regarding the confidentiality of data stored. To help with this determination, the author suggests three areas for attorneys to probe carefully before committing to the cloud. They are:
- Data encryption practices adopted by the vendor
- Awareness of the physical storage location of the data itself
- Procedures for disaster recovery of data made available by the vendor
NetDocuments appears to do rather well in all three of these crucial categories.
All documents sent to and from NetDocuments use secure SSL protocols with 128 bit encryption keys, and all documents stored on the NetDocuments servers are fully encrypted. Multiple additional technical and procedural safeguards are in place to insure that your documents are available only to you and to those with whom you choose to share them.
NetDocuments servers are located exclusively in the U.S. for U.S. firms, as well as two redundant datacenters in the UK. All data becomes replicated between the two secure hosting centers, insuring continuity of access. In the event of a disaster at one site, access to the replicated site is instantaneous and transparent to the user. You can read the details for yourself in the NetDocuments Technical Overview.
So, all of you Pennsylvania lawyers out there, rest easy knowing that NetDocuments fully complies with the standards as currently defined by your Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, and as further explicated by a practicing attorney who is also a knowledgeable technology professional.
The cloud can indeed be a dangerous place. Perform your due diligence accordingly.
Post written by Jack Schaller of Eastern Legal Systems (ELS). ELS is one of NetDocuments valued Business Services Partners. Jack is a partner and Director of Client Development and operates out of the firm’s Blue Bell, PA office.
Eastern Legal Systems LLC is a regional technology consulting firm specializing in legal billing and accounting, practice management, document management, and network optimization for small to mid-size law firms. Spanning the “Metroliner Corridor” of the Eastern United States seaboard, Eastern Legal Systems serves clients in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. from offices in those four locations.
Our mission is to add value to each project we initiate for our law firm clients, through our combination of extensive software and training experience, our deep knowledge of the products we support, and our solid legal industry background.
October 5th, 2011
Tags: Attorney, Cloud Computing, Content Management, document management, law firm, Legal Administrators, Legal SaaS, legal technology, LegalTech, Security, Technology|
Category: business continuity, Cloud Computing, Compliance, document management, Ethics, legal, Legal Ethics, legal technology, SaaS, Technology
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Remember recess in elementary? That’s right, a hundred kids running at full speed in different directions, headed for unknown destinations, totally oblivious of who would be there and why? Exciting, yes. Fun, yes. Total mayhem, you bet. The Cloud Computing industry is growing at a break-neck pace, recess is out, and it’s time to make some sense of the chaos.
Collaboration is a broad and well trodden topic; in fact, it was Salesforce.com’s theme at their event of the year, titled “Collabor8”. But just because Salesforce.com can throw around phrases like “collaborative software”, or taking a “collaborative approach” in their business vernacular, it doesn’t make it any easier to grasp in a real sense, nor to implement in a real-life, competitive and fast-paced environment, especially if your business has nothing to do with Salesforce.com.
Note: If you think collaboration is a cliché topic, then you don’t really understand how far reaching of a “principle” it really is. It is the secret sauce to the budding industries and technologies of social media, software/technology design, the user experience, and channel management, so quit you’re complaining and put your “cliché” card away.
I’m not talking about collaboration specific to the NetDocuments world, although it’s worth mentioning that client portals, data rooms, extranets, threaded discussions, notifications, alerts, and workspaces are all collaborative tools available within NetDocuments’ functionality (shameless plug), but I’m talking about Collaboration from a bird’s eye perspective in the developing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry. Business solutions aggregators are beginning to sprout and take shape; timely since CNET has just validated that one of the “Top 12 Cloud Gifts of 2010” is the broad acceptance of Cloud Computing. What immediately follows acceptance? Chaos. What should follow chaos? Collaboration.
Here are a few industry-specific collaborators – Let’s see what they have to offer…
The LCCA is specific to the legal industry and has comprised some innovative and thought leading organizations who among others, purport to be leading the “cloud computing” pack. Member organizations surround practice management and technology consulting for the legal professional, including: Clio, DirectLaw, RocketMatter, and TotalAttorneys. If the aim is to define standards and best practices, and form policies and guidelines, the list is not yet complete but I’m thrilled to see it beginning to take shape.
The LCCA’s charter
- Provide a unified and consistent voice for vendors in the legal cloud computing market;
- Collaborate and cooperate with Bar Associations and other policy-forming bodies in efforts to form policies and guidelines relating to the use of cloud computing in law practices;
- Define standards and best practices;
- Provide educational resources to attorneys and the broader legal community on cloud computing and the technical, legal and ethical issues relating to cloud computing
Virtual Solutions Consortium (VSC) aggregates financial services solutions and resources into one central location, separated by two main categories: Virtual Staff and Resources. Virtual Staff includes links to operational managers, compliance consultants, web developers, and accountants. The resources tab includes C-level strategists, coaching, client portals, and document management. VSC seeks to answer the questions: What can I outsource? What should I outsource? Who can I outsource it to? With a concise set of value-ads such as:
- Increased efficiency and productivity
- Expert advice and execution
- Greater flexibility
- Significant cost savings
Virtual Solutions and the LCCA are two innovative organizations seeking to bring collaboration and unity to the chaos and clutter of the cloud computing industry. I applaud their initiative, but there is still a lot of work to be done to collect and unite the key stakeholders across vertical markets and the industry as a whole. To learn more about new collaboration, or to contribute to the discussion, send a tweet to @NetDocuments or @MarriottMurdock.
Post written by Marriott Murdock of the NetDocuments marketing team and head of channel development
December 21st, 2010
Tags: Attorney, CNET, collaboration, Content Management, document storage, GreenIT, law firm, legal technology, MyVirtualCOO, Salesforce, Salesforce.com, Will.I.Am|
Category: business continuity, Cloud Computing, collaboration, Compliance, Cost Savings, document management, Document Management for Salesforce, Financial Services Technology, legal, legal technology, Registered Investment Advisors, SaaS, Salesforce.com, Technology
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Do your friends call you a “techno nomad” or a “21st century minimalist”? If all you need to run your legal practice is any web enabled device, than you’ve probably been labeled by one of these terms.
You see, in the 90s, the prevailing trend was bigger is better: bigger cars, bigger hamburgers, bigger houses and bigger technology. But with a downturn in the economy, more fuel conscience consumers and the rise cloud computing, consumers and businesses alike are learning how to do more with less, including their technology needs.
20 years ago, ok, probably only 5 years ago, if I were to have gotten with a group of 5 lawyers to start a firm, I would have bought servers, PCs, network stuff, probably some IT people to manage it all and a large investment in some large software package. Now compare that with what new firm Lumpkins Spiers PLC did when two attorneys broke off from a large practice to start their own earlier this year. All they needed was a scanner, laptops and an internet connection.
[Read the entire case study on how Lumpkins Spiers PLC uses web based technology to manage and run their law practice]
John Lumpkins, one of the partners, had been overseeing and managing technology for over twenty years when he joined with Sarah Spiers to form a new firm, and he knew that there was a more efficient way to run a practice. He envisioned a “legal practice 2.0” or a “law firm in the cloud.”
“Cloud Computing is a way to allow us to focus on what we do best instead of having to invest in or maintain a whole server system ourselves,” John said after deciding to employ an integrated solution of NetDocuments and AdvologixPM.
Though they are still a relatively new firm, John and Sarah have enjoyed the simplicity and ease of implementation that moving to the cloud has provided them.
To learn more about how Lumpkins Spiers has created a cloud based legal practice, read the entire case study here.
To continue the legal SaaS discussion, send a tweet to @NetDocuments and we’ll be sure to keep the conversation going.
August 19th, 2010
Tags: Advologix, Attorney, integration, law firm, legal technology, practice management|
Category: Advologix, business continuity, collaboration, document, document management, legal technology, paperless, SaaS, Technology
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James Linehan uses NetDocuments to run a cloud based legal practice.
James Linehan runs a solo law firm in Oklahoma City. He is a pioneer in legal technology and has been running a virtual paperless firm for over 10 years. With the emergence of cloud technologies, James has eliminated his need for servers and software and now runs his practice from the cloud.
Problem
Although James Linehan had been running a virtual law firm for 10 years, he wanted to eliminate the stress caused by local servers and file backups, as well as the difficulties he was having in being able to work from anywhere.
“My biggest fear before was due to me storing all of my client files on my computer. I’d then have to separately back them up to a hard drive or portable drive and switch them out every week. And as you know, every now and then those would just quit so you don’t know if you are getting a good back up. Then there was always a risk of having a catastrophe or your computer burning out and I would have lost everything,” recalled James. “Also, to get to my files on the go, I had to make sure my computer was up and running the whole time while I was gone, and make sure I had a program like Gotomypc™ on the remote computer at the hotel or wherever I was working, which rarely had it, so I’d have to download and install it. I needed it to be much easier.”
Solution
When James heard about NetDocuments, he instantly recognized the benefits of moving to the cloud. “I saw the major advantage of it being SaaS. I did a free trial, liked what I saw, talked to my sales rep and was then completely up and running with all my documents within hours. I didn’t have to order a product from [NetDocuments] and wait for a CD to arrive or even download or install anything. Traditional software is always a pain to me,”
Not only was James up and running that same day, he was also able to leave his old life of backups and IT headaches behind. “Now that I’m with NetDocuments, I don’t have to worry about [servers and backups]. That is the best thing about it. You’ve got multiple redundant backups built in so I don’t have to worry about backing up, saving, backing up, saving and then keep worrying about if it is still working or not.”
Moving to the cloud also allowed James to work from anywhere. “Now I can access my client files from anywhere I’m at whenever I’m on the road from any computer. I was presenting in a seminar in downtown OKC the other day and while I was waiting to present I was able to work on client files from right there. It was great. I also like that I can now take my laptop and go work on my porch or in the backyard on nice days.”
Along with reducing IT hassles and becoming more mobile, James has seen a cost savings with NetDocuments. “There is big cost savings for me. Last year I tried using an online backup solution but it was very slow and took forever to upload documents. NetDocuments is much faster, better, more organized and the cost is right on.”
Results
One of the biggest benefits to Jim is the ability to easily organize his work by clients and matter. “I use workspaces which organize my emails, documents and faxes based on clients. And because there is a specific email address for each client’s workspace, when I have a client email me a document, I have him or her email it directly to his or her workspace. Now when a client calls to ask if we discussed something over email, I can instantly pull up their workspace and say yea or nay.”
He summarized the functional benefits of NetDocuments by saying, “The email management, scanning ability, unique email addresses and the simplicity of it are the main benefits for me with NetDocuments.”
After 10 years of running a virtual law firm, Jim has settled on a mix of powerful technology products that let him focus on serving his clients rather than his technology. “For my whole office, other than NetDocuments, I have a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner, a desktop and laptop computer, Oovoo for video conferencing, Gmail with Outlook for email, MS Office and a website with a live chat function so I can chat with current and prospective clients.”
“When I went virtual about 10 years ago, my fellow attorneys thought I was nuts when I was scanning and shredding all of my files. Nowadays, all the big firms have done the same thing and smaller firms are starting to go virtual but it would be even better if they understood how much better something like NetDocuments would be for them. Everyone knew me as the guy that ran the virtual office, now I tell everyone that I’m a cloud office and they like it.”
Website: http://www.linehanpc.com/
June 1st, 2010
Tags: Attorney, file sharing, green IT, legal technology, Oklahoma City, paperless, Virtual Law Firm|
Category: Cloud Computing, collaboration, legal, legal technology, SaaS
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