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Document collaboration with clients
RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers
Published: April 4, 2014
Document collaboration through the cloud and dedicated doc sharing services is coming of age, as more and more attorneys and clients seem to be becoming familiar and comfortable with this very powerful way of working together on important projects.
Cloud document collaboration makes it easier for multiple people to access documents, to read or edit, in real time. It is (or should be) much more secure and timely than sending emails back and forth.
But this type of collaboration has obvious weaknesses, and all involved are best served by paying attention to those security weaknesses. In looking at all of the various cloud collaboration services available, everyone should think security first, and cost and convenience second.
The first thing to look at is “document control.” It is as essential as “client control.”
You can control your side of any document in collaboration on the cloud. But what about what the other folks, especially clients, are doing to those documents? You need to be aware of all facets of whatever doc sharing app you’re using.
Because of this, it is advisable to work with the most powerful enterprise document sharing programs that you can—even if it means paying a premium.
For instance, not all of those apps allow you to see who a collaborator has forwarded a doc to. Look for this feature.
Have control over sets of permissions. You need to assign various permissions to various people on each individual document. You don’t want someone looking at docs that they are not working on.
Permissions include passwording each document, and controlling the amount of time that a doc is visible to any given party.
It goes without saying, but I will say it: encrypt each document with 256 bit AES encryption. That way, if a document is looked at inadvertently, the person looking at it will see only gibberish.
Also, don’t forget to comply with HIPPA privacy requirements if your practice deals with that area.
Cost should not be an issue. The cloud document collaboration/sharing applications that an attorney should be using are enterprise solutions, and those can cost real money. But you really don’t have any choice.