The Cloud’s Latent Benefits for Law Firms
At this point in time, there are innumerable reasons to make the transition to the cloud. The cloud improves convenience, bolsters security and provides budgetary certainty. However, there are some hidden cloud benefits that are particularly appealing to law firms.
The Automation of Data Backups
Attorneys, paralegals and others who work at law firms are bound to make mistakes at one point or another. Lawyers will leave their smartphones behind at cafes, hotels and other places. Litigation assistants will inadvertently leave mobile computing devices on planes, nightstands, etc.
A lost or stolen device has the potential to cause major problems for law firms of all types, sizes and niches. If your firm loses data and you do not have a backup, you will likely find it difficult to retain clients. Move to the cloud and you will enjoy automated data backups performed in a routine manner. This way, there won’t be any reason to worry about data loss.
Increase Billable Hours
The cloud makes it easier to bump up those summer and holiday billable hours. Use a cloud platform such as Legal Workspace and you will be able to access programs, applications and data at any point in time. This immediate access regardless of location allows you to put in more work and bill that many more hours.
Facilitate the Onboarding Process
Everyone dreads the onboarding process. Work in a cloud environment and it will be easier to introduce numerous new applications, procedures, programs and other information to new hires. The forementioned Legal Workspace is the same on all devices. Your team can log in from different locations and devices with ease.
Reduce Network Downtime
Network downtime has the potential to become a massive headache that limits productivity and ultimately costs a considerable amount of money. Shift to the cloud and you will not spend one more second thinking about network outages. The cloud creates the opportunity for redundancies to be put in place to guarantee servers remain up and available at all times.
Compliance With the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Every law firm and lawyer that works with private health information, also referred to as PHI, is tasked with the additional responsibility of complying with HIPAA. Certain cloud spaces provide extensive protections for information storage to comply with HIPAA’s nuanced rules. The cloud really does level the playing field for those small law firms that otherwise would not have had the means to safeguard data in accordance with HIPAA standards.
