Online Filing Cabinets
By Jim Calloway, Director, OBA Management Assistance Program

After a recent presentation at the Cleveland County Bar Association (“30 Technology Tips in 30 Minutes”), I was approached by Cleveland County Bar President John Sparks, who wanted to give me one of his best technology tips. He recently had a need to place documents online where they could be downloaded or accessed by others. Some could be generally available to anyone, while other information needed to be restricted. His solution was www.MyDocsOnline.com. This service allowed him to set up various online folders. Some of these online folders were used in the same manner as if they were folders on his computer’s hard drive while other folders could be used to share documents with third parties by giving them login information.

There are now many services that supply various types of online storage and/or document sharing. In the early days of the Internet, most purchased online storage for hosting of Web pages. The market for potential purchasers of online storage was then limited to those who were technologically adept and who could deal with processes like FTP and uploading files.

Now there are numerous vendors of online storage space, and there are numerous ways that a lawyer could use online storage. Let’s review how a lawyer can use these emerging services either for their business or personal use.

One method is to use online storage just as if there was an additional hard drive connected to your computer located on the Internet. Many computer users now use their online storage space as an additional virtual hard drive. One opens their virtual folders in the same way that one might open a folder on their computer’s hard drive and generally operates just as if working on their own workstation. A significant benefit to this approach is that the data saved on the virtual folders is likely more safe and secure than the average user’s computer. Plus, it is easy to access from any Internet-connected computer. The primary downside is that the lack of Internet access effectively locks you out of your folder and your data. While many law firms use the Internet in their practices, there are presently few who would be totally shut down without Net access. (Let’s defer discussing the ethical aspects of storing client data on the Internet for the moment.)

A second use for purchased online storage is data backup. With this method, one’s data is backed up and stored online through either an automated or manual process instead of using backup tapes or other physical storage devices.

Online data backup by law firms became a high priority concern after disasters such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. When you think about those types of situations, the safety of having your backup on a server hundreds of miles away from your office cannot be overstated. Technology consultant Ross Kodner and I discussed online backup at the 2006 OBA Solo and Small Firm Conference. We were not in total agreement. His concern is that the amount of data that is required to be stored online for a complete backup would make the data restoration process either impossible or a multiple day process. My thought is that many corporations currently store large amounts of backup data online, so there must be a way for the legal profession to do so. We both agree that law firms should consider this type of backup at least as a secondary system.

As noted in the introduction, online storage can also be used to share files with others. Sharing information with others via the Internet is a major societal phenomenon. Recently many of specialized file sharing services have been in the headlines. You’ve likely used one of these yourself if you’ve ever clicked on a link someone e-mailed you to view a funny photo or video. These services include such diverse offerings as Flickr for photo sharing, YouTube for video sharing, del.icio.us and Mybookmarks.com for sharing favorite Web sites, blogs for sharing your opinions and RSS newfeeds for sharing news.

Lawyers may not initially appreciate how these services can be incorporated into a busy law practice. There are two modes of document sharing: 1) private, setting up a password-protected location to share documents or other files with a client and 2) publicly, setting up a Web page with links to documents or other files that anyone can download.

However, in the future, it will become more frequent for clients to expect to have online document repositories. A password-protected site to allow clients to immediately download copies of documents could be a great client service and also avoids sending the documents through the insecure e-mail system or by paying for the expense of U.S. mail, especially when multiple parties need to receive copies. For many types of matters, this will be a accepted client service.

So it will become increasingly important for lawyers to understand the range of online storage services in order to better serve their clients. And it is also possible that one might use some of these online depositories and services to have a little fun.

A recent article in the July 2006 issue of PC World magazine, “Store It on the Web,” contained a comparison of the lower-priced online storage services. The complete article is online at http://tinyurl.com/zrguq. All readers of this column are strongly encouraged to read this article. The article’s writers and reviewers concluded, “[o]f the 17 services we tried, our favorite backup service is IBackup, while the GoDaddy Online File Folder is our pick of the storage sites. And for sharing files, we like the free 4shared.com service.”

You will probably find names of several services that are unfamiliar to you. But every attorney needs to be aware of these technological advances and options, not only for possible utilization in the law practice but also for advising clients and understanding the situations they may have encountered using these services.

Obviously there should be a great deal of concern about confidentiality safeguards with any online storage vendor considered by a lawyer for business matters.

Lawyers have different responsibilities than many others in regard to confidentiality and privacy of the information that they collect. But others have to protect the sanctity of their information as well. Bankers are governed by strict financial privacy laws. The medical profession has always had privacy concerns, but HIPAA legislation has made those even more pronounced.

A lawyer has to vet these services carefully to see if it is appropriate to be considered for law firm use. But looking for services that are HIPAA compliant certainly seems to be an appropriate initial consideration. Since online data storage services will be marketing themselves as appropriate hosts for confidential personal and business data, it stands to reason that their safeguards will be strong in this regard, too.

It may not be time for most lawyers to sign up for these services for client data right now, but it appears very likely that an online filing cabinet is in your future.

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal Aug. 5, 2006 - Vol. 77; No.21