It's the long weekend, you're away with family and an unexpected deadline comes up. Your client or partner is waiting on you, and you can't get your large document to transfer from one application to another. You decide to bypass the problem and email it to yourself using your spouse's gmail account. There, problem solved.
If your law firm is like many small-to-medium-sized Canadian firms, you're facing an increasing volume of electronic files and correspondence. Your firm may also face related challenges around reproducing work, collaborating on and versioning documents and responding quickly to client demands.
Adopting tech that’s new to your firm may seem like a bigger challenge than keeping your old on-site model. Despite expressing frustration with the cost and hassle of updates, downtime, and capital expenditure, some law firms still lean toward on-site systems – just because they are comfortable with what’s familiar.
Karon Bales
Partner
Wills & estates, family law, litigation, employment law
9 lawyers, 9 staff
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto firm Bales Beall LLP had a professional IT setup: a server room filled with a solid network of servers, providing a LAN that worked well for the firm - most of the time. As all in-house systems do, it was nearing the end of its life: remote access was becoming onerous, software was crashing and the network was slowing down. One option was to simply buy new servers to replace the old. But Partner Karon Bales had heard of Cloud IT and wondered: would moving to the Cloud be a safer, more reliable solution?
If you’re like most lawyers, referring to your days as “busy” is a gross understatement. The last thing you need is computer problems getting in the way of your productivity. Even when your IT is working well, managing systems and supervising IT consultants is a chore, and can put a strain on your budget.
