From Equifax to Facebook to the GDPR, cybersecurity and privacy had a banner year in 2018. But according to attorneys and cyber experts, the cyber focus shows no sign of stopping. In the past month alone, Legaltech News has reported surveys that note how law firms are not adopting proper cyber protocols, companies haven’t mitigated third-party risks, and attorneys are vulnerable to biometric, cloud and phishing attacks.

Lawyers can’t pretend that their data isn’t being targeted by hackers and other threats anymore. There are just too many high-profile horror stories, from the leak of the Panama Papers to the ransomware attack on DLA Piper. The threat is real, and clients know it. Read more >>

Use of the cloud now spans virtual work desks to practice management to accounting and beyond. But shifting away from an on-premise solution to a cloud-based one requires law firms to create new formulas for evaluating effectiveness, ease of installation, data protection and other factors.

Your firm has identified an exciting new technology, but it turns out that the provider’s technical support stinks. These potential red flags will help you evaluate a provider’s technical support before you sign on the dotted line.

Any data within your walls – whether your own or your clients’ – should be protected to with highest standards. One lapse in security or protocol and your reputation, your firm, and your future are on the line. We recommend three steps to support data privacy in 2018.

Information is the new currency, which makes it worth stealing. Each day, hackers invade organizations for useful data such as personally identifiable information, passwords, market-moving news and corporate intelligence.

With so many software programs communicating with each other, it’s important to select a cloud service that can actively demonstrate knowledge around the vital legal applications needed for a practice and the unique requirements of law firms.

Corporate counsel are starting to demand that their outside counsel adhere to strict security protocols and undergo in-depth evaluations. By addressing their concerns, firms will offer a secure relationship with corporate clients and score a competitive advantage.

Quick—think about the oldest software in your law firm. When was it implemented? 2010? 2008? Earlier? The chances are that this older technology doesn't meet the firm's needs. Aging technology needs to be replaced. It's inefficient, hard to use and difficult to maintain.

Legal Workspace, a leading provider of cloud-based work environments designed exclusively for law firms, today expanded its offerings to include managed IT service packages. The announcement comes ahead of the company’s first exhibition at ILTACON 2017.

If you feel like your IT costs have spun out of control, you are not alone. According to the "2016 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey," firms of all sizes spend up to 10 percent of their budgets on technology. As IT infrastructure and technology eat away at the bottom line, many are seeking ways to control and stabilize IT budgets.

Corporations consider many different factors when deciding whether to hire a law firm. Security wasn't usually a major factor, and law firms used to fly under the radar when it came to questions about keeping client data secure. That has all changed.

Technology is evolving at an astounding rate, and it is imperative for every department to keep up with the changes. CIOs should focus on expanding their teams’ skill sets to include customer service and training capabilities. Sending staff to professional development opportunities such as conferences is important but not always effective if they don’t know how to share or apply their newfound knowledge. Ensuring your team can train end users on new technologies and processes is just as important as keeping up with the latest technology.

Winning new corporate clients can be a challenging proposition for any firm in today's legal profession. The 2016 Law Firms in Transition survey conducted by Altman Weil found that many firms suffer from an "inefficient delivery of legal services."

Join Legal Workspace at booth #509 to learn more about our expanded offerings. Enter to win an iPad mini or pick up one of our signature swag items. Our engineers and consultants will be onsite too if you have any questions about Legal Workspace or moving your firm to the cloud. Read more >>

In a law firm environment, the role of IT is continuously evolving. Developing a well-rounded set of skills can ensure that a technology professional is positioned for success. Read more >>

By demonstrating their firms’ savvy, security, responsiveness, and proven compliance with outside counsel guidelines, lawyers can increase their chances at winning corporate business. Here’s how >>

With new security threats emerging daily, it's important to consider cybersecurity when hiring outside counsel. Most corporations vet law firms based on a variety of criteria such as practice areas, fees, clients and capabilities. However, protecting data is rarely one of those factors. Companies generally assume that law firms take their own precautions to keep data safe. Read more >>

But before you take advantage of free storage options, think twice. As tempting as iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox or other sites may be, there are ownership complications that can arise from uploading confidential or privileged information to these types of free and low‐cost services. These sites are geared toward consumers — not law firms — and it may not be clear where the data resides or whether users surrender their ownership rights to information in that particular cloud.

Winning new clients is a necessary but challenging proposition for today’s small to midsize law firms. Altman Weil’s2016 Law Firms in Transition survey found that many law firms suffer from an “inefficient delivery of legal services” and fail to use “proactivity as a competitive advantage.” But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are the top five ways that law firms can bolster their operations and infrastructures—and improve their competitive advantage.  

An email arrives from an address you don’t recognize with an attachment that is marked “important.” Since it may be something urgent from a current or prospective client, you decide to open it. However, with a quick click, you could inadvertently download a virus that could hijack every file on your firm’s server.

For law firm CIOs, the urge to peer into the future is irresistible. Those who oversee the IT function at law firms might find that gazing into crystal balls is not only entertaining, but a way to anticipate emerging trends, minimize risks and gain a competitive edge.

It's 6 p.m. You are about to put the final touches on a brief that is due tomorrow when a message pops up on your laptop. It informs you that a third party has gained control of your system and encrypted all your files. To unencrypt your files, you must pay a ransom.

Security is always a concern for law firms, and the risks have only grown in recent years. Increasingly, attorneys, staff and clients have become more mobile and rely on an array of laptops, smartphones and tablets to stay connected 24/7. As more data is created and resides in more places, it becomes more vulnerable.

Those at larger law firms can usually let the IT department worry about compliance, security, and hard and software. However, attorneys at small or mid-sized firms do not have the luxury of a large IT staff—if they have any IT staff at all. Consequently, lawyers are left to figure these things out, even if the sheer number of issues to consider when setting up or reimagining IT seems overwhelming. It

When deciding which cloud service to use for clients’ information, keep in mind that the trade-off for free or low-cost service might be minimal security and loss of control over location and even ownership of the data.

The opportunities presented by the cloud are considerable. As attorneys know, the cloud can save their firms money and provide instant access to information. But what else can the cloud do? Are there other unexpected ways the cloud can support your law firm? Yes. Here are five unexpected ways that law firms can benefit from the cloud

Legaltech New York 2016 is kicking off this week! Come see us at booth #423 Feb 2nd - 4th! We would love to meet you and talk with you about your law firm's cloud-based solution and give you some tips on being HIPAA compliant!

The cloud will soon be as ubiquitous in legal as it is in other businesses. It's inevitable. As our reliance on the cloud grows, it's more important than ever for lawyers to understand how they connect to the cloud, the evolving risks that apply to them and what questions they need to ask to ensure confidentiality and privacy for their firms and their clients.

A large percentage of law firms appear to have insufficient security measures in place to ensure compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), a recent survey reveals. According to the Legal Workspace survey, only 13 percent of the 240 law firms questioned have relevant technology and processes to conform with HIPAA compliance.

Educating clients, training staff, better passwords, etc. All are ways that these legal vendors (including us) suggest law firms should be doing in order to keep their client's data safe.

If you want to go anywhere and everywhere with your law office, it’s time to look at infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings. IaaS brings applications and data together in a centralized place and provides them from any Internet connection. IaaS providers are not out to dominate your desktop user interface like Apple Inc., Google Inc. or Microsoft Corp. Infrastructure service providers are out to replace your desktop whether you use a PC or tablet computer. Take Legal Workspace, an IaaS provider dedicated to the legal space.

What will happen in the New Year? What trends will prevail? Based on our daily work with numerous law firms, here are five predictions we see for 2016. Further, we break each down with a rating of 1-5. It’s a great way for law firms to benchmark potential options, technology and processes to further improve their practices.

Regulations concerning the use and storage of electronic healthcare information continue to grow more stringent. As a result, a HIPAA compliance "trickle down" effect is happening.

"Law firms are recognizing that technology is not just about their internal business processes, but also about meeting the needs of clients and fending off threats from outside forces," says Joe Kelly, CEO of Legal Workspace, a Dallas-based tech provider for law firms.

HIPAA compliance often presents a multitude of challenges for law firms due to dense regulations, rules and process-related requirements. Whether handling compliance in-house or working with third-party consultants or technology, law firm leaders should consider all aspects of compliance and the necessary steps it entails before proceeding.

It’s no secret that IT services are increasingly being transferred to the cloud. But what’s holding organizations back from moving all services to the cloud, rather than only a few at a time? According to one survey, questions over security still rule.

We need to look elsewhere for maturity—from the inside out. Lawyers as technology consumers must continually demand increasingly more sophisticated products to compete in legal services and not simply ask for products that satisfy minimal ethical requirements of competence in representing clients. Perhaps then will we get vendors who supply a continuing flow of innovative products to make a vibrant, mature legal-tech industry?

Five years ago, if you asked a lawyer what the “cloud” was, they likely would have looked overhead into the sky and pointed to a white, fluffy mass of condensed water vapor. That might be a slight exaggeration, but today, law firms are certainly savvier when it comes to their IT options and with cloud-based services and computing continuing to gain traction in the legal space.

As much as some of us are tempted to choose the first provider who promises to make it work and make it secure, others might prefer a more thoroughly reasoned approach before surrendering their data to the great computer in the sky.

If any of your clients are involved with health care, you know how highly regulated the field is. You may think you are complying with all the regulations and have lock-tight security measures in place at your firm. But you could be wrong.

As intriguing as the idea of working virtually is, breaking away from an office can be a daunting task. It requires a new mindset and discipline. Other factors also need to be considered such as the logistics of computers, support, backup and other technological areas. Fortunately, with the right preparation, technology and approach, it’s easier than ever to set up a virtual law office.

In order to maintain all their legal obligations toward their clients, attorneys must understand the rules that govern their actions and utilize cloud options that provide the proper safeguards.

Your data may not always be yours after you’ve uploaded it. And if it is hosted in another country, you could be looking at cross border jurisdictional headaches.

One of the biggest factors of cloud adoption in the legal realm, is integration with existing legal solutions. That means an offering must address market-specific needs including document and time management and billing, as well as provide high levels of security and confidentiality. When a cloud solution meets these needs while offering easy integration with existing solutions, the benefits are compelling.

The functionality we expect out of our devices has slowly moved up the stack, from physical components to software: and though software doesn't "wear out" the way that the platter of a hard drive can, its usefulness can decline in a way very similar to a physical component.

While many lawyers strive to become true business partners with their clients, law firms that deal in sensitive health information may need to become actual “business associates.” Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Omnibus Rule and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), lawyers may qualify as business associates, which carries a whole host of obligations and compliance measures—and serious penalties for failing to meet those standards.

Due to the nature of their work, attorneys have plenty of experience handling privileged information. But the rising number of data breaches and questionable storage practices throughout businesses overall have led lawyers into a new “battleground” of securing information—one that is often regulated or demands heightened security beyond IT specifications.

When weighing whether to use a cloud provider for any type of legal information storage, attorneys have a responsibility to know where their data is, feel confident that it won’t be lost or stolen and understand who truly owns it.

ABA TECHSHOW 2015 - The most intriguing product updates and launches so far this year — including highlights from the announcements crossing our screens as the legal technology companies rev up for the big week ahead.

The roster of applications and services with an appetite for private information has grown considerably over the last half decade—and it seems that both companies and the public are ever-willing to surrender guarded facts in exchange for connectivity and convenience.

We're not only seeing more critical data and processes being handled in clouds now, but also more movement than ever between private, public, and on-premises cloud architectures. It seems as though the hype is behind us, and now we're really figuring out what the cloud can do.

Continued Growth Evidence of Rising Adoption of Cloud-Based Technology for Lawyers. The company attributes this success to its unique, legal-specific virtual work environment coupled with law firms' rising acceptance of cloud-based technology.

“The Cloud” is one of the most popular and most misunderstood technical buzzwords in use today. One of the top questions our sales team gets asked is, “Can Needles be in the cloud?”