Legal Software as a Service For Law Department Efficiency

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a cloud-based service where instead of downloading software on your desktop PC or business network to run and update, you instead access an application via an internet browser. Legal Software as a Service applications could be anything from law department software, like an enterprise legal management platform, to unified communications among a wide range of business apps that are available.

In corporate legal departments, there is a growing trend towards cloud-based solutions, but many still use on-premise software due to concerns about data security and compliance. However, the adoption of legal software as a service is increasing as these concerns are addressed.

The legal sector is notorious for slow migration to advanced technologies. That migration from on-premise hosting to SaaS began in the early 2000s. Companies were driven by the need for more flexible, scalable and cost-effective solutions. Legal software as a service allows companies to avoid the complexities and costs associated with maintaining hardware and software on-site.

Legal departments should consider SaaS as a viable option, but they must evaluate the security, data migration, privacy, and confidentiality features of each solution. Legal software as a service providers often offer robust security measures, but it's crucial to ensure they meet the specific needs of the legal industry.

Protection against cybersecurity threats is one of the primary considerations by legal operations teams. There should be strong access controls, regular security audits, data encryption, and employee training on cybersecurity best practices. Trust in the legal software as a service vendor is essential, so thorough due diligence and reference checks are recommended.

Benefits of Legal Software as a Service

SaaS products can be more cost-effective due to lower upfront costs and reduced need for in-house IT resources. However, it's important to consider the total cost of ownership, including subscription fees and potential costs for additional features or services.

Legal software as a service solutions offer benefits such as improved collaboration, remote access and automatic updates. They can enhance efficiency and flexibility in legal operations, but careful consideration of security and compliance is essential.

Cloud-hosting offers several technology benefits, including scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. It allows businesses to easily scale their resources up or down based on demand, ensuring optimal performance without the need for significant upfront investment in hardware.

Cloud-hosting also provides flexibility, enabling access to applications and data from anywhere with an internet connection. As mentioned, this supports remote work and collaboration among legal teams, regardless of where they work.

In-house IT teams prefer the automatic updates and server maintenance, as it reduces their burden of managing disparate systems. Legal operations professionals should connect their in-house IT team with the technology vendor to discuss legal software as a service benefit. Enhanced security features, such as data encryption and regular backups, are typically part of cloud-hosting services, providing robust protection against data loss and cyber threats.

Selecting a Legal Software as a Service Provider

There are many top names in cloud hosting and legal software as a service providers. Here are some evaluation criteria to ensure that legal operations professionals make their best choice in selecting a tech provider for enterprise legal management software.

There are several key aspects when evaluating a legal SaaS provider. Many of the factors are intended to ensure peace of mind in a decision, especially when the decision is for a lengthy duration. With help from an IT expert in an organization, consider inquiring about the following items:

• Data Security Measures: Ask about encryption standards, both in transit and at rest, and how data is protected against unauthorized access
• Compliance and Certifications: Verify if the provider complies with relevant legal and industry standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or ISO 27001.
• Uptime and Reliability: Request information on the provider's uptime guarantees and service level agreements (SLAs) to ensure consistent access to services.
• Data Backup and Recovery: Inquire about the frequency of data backups, the recovery process in case of data loss, and the provider's disaster recovery plan.
• Access Controls: Understand the authentication and authorization mechanisms in place to control who can access sensitive data.
• Vendor Reputation and References: Research the provider's reputation in the industry and ask for references from other legal departments or firms.
• Confidentiality Agreements: Ensure that there are robust confidentiality agreements in place to protect sensitive legal information.
• Audit and Monitoring: Ask about the provider's capabilities for auditing and monitoring access and changes to data.
• Data Ownership and Portability: Clarify who owns the data and how easily it can be exported or migrated if you decide to switch providers.
• Incident Response Plan: Review the provider's incident response plan to understand how they handle data breaches or security incidents.
• Support and Maintenance: Evaluate the level of customer support available and how updates and maintenance are managed.

Enterprise Legal Management Cloud Hosting

Daily, more employees are being ordered to return to work from their remote locations. While this means that onsite servers and technology need to be in top-notch working condition, some advanced software, like cloud-hosted enterprise legal management software, can be managed by the legal software as a service provider.

Due to the nature of legal services that never sleeps, having the remote access capability is critical for those lawyers who travel and want to work from home after the kids are asleep. More functionality is also occurring on mobile devices and the desktop, providing work-anywhere opportunities.

Lawyers aren’t the only ones who can access matters from anywhere with cloud-hosted enterprise legal management, legal operations professionals can review billing and the flagged errors found in invoices by the financial management application. Others who work with contract lifecycle management, can ensure that contracts link with matters from the unified user navigation interface. Also, law firm teams can access the matter dashboard and upload case management files for collaboration with in-house lawyers. Contact us to learn more.