Law Firms

Solo through mid-size firms, real estate closers and litigation practices.

Industry

Law Firms

Sound familiar

Deadlines don't move because your internet did — A filing date is fixed. A failure on the wrong afternoon stops being an inconvenience and starts being a malpractice question.

Your document system is your firm — Decades of work product in one place. Has anyone confirmed it can actually be restored?

Email is how the money gets stolen — Compromised mailboxes get used to redirect closing funds. When it happens, the firm is the one explaining it.

Everyone works from everywhere — Home machines, court laptops, personal phones — and no way to secure or wipe any of them.

Departures take files with them — When an attorney leaves, can you establish what went with them?

This is an ethics question, not an IT one — Your obligations around client information don't transfer to a vendor. They stay with you.

What you’re held to

Your duty of confidentiality — You're required to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information. That includes how it's stored and who can reach it. (NC Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.6)

Technology competence — Competence includes keeping up with the benefits and risks of the technology you use. (ABA Model Rule 1.1, Comment 8)

Using cloud software — North Carolina permits it, provided you exercise reasonable care — and the opinion sets out what that due diligence looks like. (NC State Bar 2011 Formal Ethics Opinion 6)

Sharing files with clients — Client-accessible document systems are permitted with specific precautions. (NC State Bar 2008 Formal Ethics Opinion 5)

Trust account records — Recordkeeping and reconciliation requirements shape how your financial records are handled and retained. (NC Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.15)