Many personal injury law firms are transitioning to cloud-based personal injury software from on-premise servers and desktops. Discover the pros and cons of an in-house legal document management system and cloud-based solution, including the potential costs, IT responsibilities, remote access possibilities and security measures. 

The world’s shift from paper documents to digital files hasn’t decreased the volume of materials your personal injury law firm must store and use in insurance claims and litigation. In fact, you may have seen an increase in paperwork, including incident and police reports, insurance forms, medical records and bills. 

Fortunately, you can implement a legal document management system (DMS) to more efficiently organize, securely store and quickly access all these documents. 

Adopting a DMS takes time and consideration, though. You’ll need to assess which option is best for your firm starting with a fundamental question: Should you rely on a cloud-based or in-house legal document management system?

What is legal document management?

Legal document management refers to the systems, solutions and processes your firm has in place to create, organize, store, secure, retrieve and search your documents. As a personal injury firm, you are responsible for client agreements, court filings and pleadings, discovery documents, medical records, insurance documents, transcripts, police and incident reports and much more.

Long gone are the days of saving every file directly to your desktop. It’s safer and more efficient to use a document management system for law firms, which provides a central location to store and organize all file types from Word documents and PDFs to videos and images. Many document management solutions also offer collaboration features to improve coordination between lawyers and staff and support law firm client communication.

What is an in-house DMS?

An in-house legal document management system runs on an on-premise server and network. In other words, the physical hardware needed to run the DMS is located at your office, and you access the technology locally. 

Pros and cons of in-house legal document management

With an on-premise server, you have complete control over the hardware and security. A popular benefit is that if the server isn’t connected to the internet, it’s less at risk for cyberattacks and data breaches. You also can work on your client matters without access to the internet. 

However, that level of control comes with an equal level of responsibility. You’ll have higher costs associated with purchasing the hardware up front, operating and maintaining your servers and hiring IT staff. 

What is cloud-based software?

The term “cloud” refers to servers at off-site locations accessed via the internet. Data stored in the cloud is saved and typically backed up across multiple servers instead of one specific local network or device. A cloud-based document management system gives you 24/7 access to your client files from anywhere with an internet connection.

Pros and cons of cloud-based legal document management

Your lawyers and staff can access information stored in the cloud at any time and collaborate on client files anywhere they have an internet connection. Unfortunately, this accessibility comes with a downside. You’re out of luck if the internet goes down or the servers are briefly offline for a software update or security patch. 

While you have less control, relying on a vendor’s servers can be more cost-efficient since you don’t pay for the equipment, maintenance or IT personnel. Instead, your costs are consistent (and usually lower) based on your contract with the vendor for the document management solution. 

Security is one of the biggest concerns when moving to cloud-based law practice management software, as there’s a risk of an outside party accessing your data. Personal injury law firms must review a potential vendor’s cybersecurity measures carefully and be up to speed with consumer data protection laws and industry regulations.

Mature cloud providers like Microsoft and Amazon design their platforms with robust security features that have become the industry standard. Their data centers across the globe undergo continuous monitoring, regular security check-ups and frequent updates.

How to choose the right legal document management system for small law firms

When debating between on-premise servers or cloud-based software, ask yourself these questions to identify your needs and priorities:

• Do we need remote access? If you want to work from home or access files while at court, the cloud might be right for you. If you’d prefer to keep your documents independent from the internet or simply be able to work if the internet goes down, this is a point in favor of on-premise servers. 
• Do we have the capital to invest in and maintain servers? If you’re a small or mid-sized law firm, you may not want to invest in physical servers that you’ll also need to maintain and replace in the future. Additionally, choosing to have on-premises servers increases your real estate needs. 
• Do we have the income to hire IT staff? With on-premise servers comes the need for full-time IT support to maintain security measures and monitoring, upgrades, patches, integrations, backups and possible failures. While this expense could be too much for a small law firm, it might be the right choice for a mid-sized to large law firm that wants to prioritize control over its cybersecurity measures. 
• What security measures do we need? This answer is critical for evaluating cloud-based document management systems or adding a DMS to your servers. First, confirm the solution is actually cloud based. A solution “hosted by your vendor” may not be a true cloud-based software solution. Real legal cloud solutions are built on the latest, most sophisticated web technologies from the ground up, which means the application is conceived, conceptualized, designed and developed as a cloud application from the start. If you choose a true cloud-based solution, you’ll want to understand which certifications are essential for thoroughly protecting your data. 
• Is the firm growing? If your firm is hiring additional lawyers and bringing on more clients in the next few years, then cloud-based software might be the right move. Cloud-based solutions can quickly scale up to meet the need for more storage space. 
• What is the risk of a natural disaster? Natural disasters put on-premise servers and business continuity at risk, and some locations are more susceptible to floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. Meanwhile, cloud-based software tends to have multiple backups in different locations, and data centers are often in areas less likely to see major disasters. 

Leverage the cloud with peace of mind

CloudLex’s cloud-based legal document management system is built on Microsoft Azure, offering robust data security, redundancy and disaster recovery. Microsoft Azure backs up six copies of your information in at least two geographically dispersed data centers, which assures 99.9% availability of your data and backups. Your legal documents and client information are safe, protected against cyberattacks and monitored regularly. 

Request a demo today to see how you can access a legal document management system for personal injury lawyers through the cloud.