I sat down with Beth Longley, Director of ShareFile for Legal, to learn more about why ShareFile is so helpful for law firms.

Will: Why do you think ShareFile is such a big hit within the legal field?

Beth: The amount of data that attorneys work with is mind-boggling. This data is extremely sensitive, and legal documents are often very large files. Collaborating on these documents can be cumbersome and difficult to manage. Until ShareFile, there wasn’t a solution out there that really combined security and ease of use. ShareFile gives attorneys a simple, turnkey solution to manage and transfer their data, increasing overall productivity and workflow.

Will: What are the most popular use cases attorneys have for ShareFile?

Beth: ShareFile is such a robust and customizable solution that there are hundreds of ways professionals in the industry use it. One common use case is during the discovery phase of litigation. This is a period where all information must be shared with counsel on both sides. The data may include videos, recordings, photos, contracts or medical records. These files can be both large and confidential. ShareFile enables users to easily manage and share this data. Another common use case is based around data mobility. Attorneys are always on the go and working from multiple locations. Whether it is pulling up a document on a tablet in the court room or sharing information on a smartphone during a client meeting, ShareFile’s mobile apps give attorneys 24/7 access to important data from wherever they may be.

Will: How can attorneys find out more about ShareFile and its specific application to the legal field?

Beth: ShareFile has dedicated reps that know the industry and work with people within the legal profession every day. Feel free to contact me at Bethany.longley@citrix.com for a one-on-one demonstration or visit our industry page by clicking here.

Thanks Beth! Knowing the workflow of professionals within a certain industry and their technology needs makes ShareFile a true industry-specific tool.

Set up a client portal. Client portals are a great way to send documents, instead of mailing copies of important documents to your clients. With a client portal, your clients can simply log into a secure site to see what work you have done on their case and access documents that you have granted them permission to download.  Some services, like ShareFile, allow your clients to receive email notifications when a new document it uploaded to the portal, making it even more convenient for your clients. Your clients have 24/7 access to their information and your firm saves time and money.

Get mobile. Instead of having to rush back to the office to send that important document over to a client or partner, wouldn’t it be easy to simply send it while on-the-go?  ShareFile’s mobile apps allow you to have access to all files and folders in your account on the go. You can easily browse files or folders and share them with your clients and colleagues via ShareFile without having to download them.

A word from a ShareFile customer, “ShareFile is easy to use for us and for our clients. The iPad app is exceptional! And that’s coming from an app addict.”

Want to learn more about a professional and secure file sharing solution for your firm? Contact ShareFile to customize your client portal and start sharing files today.

One of the first benefits of attending trade shows is the ability to visit and speak with vendors in person.  Having face to face time with exhibitors can be much more efficient than doing business over the phone or through e-mail, because vendors are readily available to discuss your needs and provide on-site demos of their products.  Many trade shows focus specifically on one area your firm needs more knowledge on, such as technology or media.  For example, the ABA TECHSHOW includes exhibitors offering the latest and greatest in legal technology products.

Educating your employees is another reason you should consider attending trade shows.  Trade shows are not only a place to exhibit products, but to show people how to use these products.  Trade shows provide a wealth of information to update your employees on current trends that are driving the industry.   Many trade shows, such as LegalTech, also offer CLE (Continuing Legal Education) programs that can be completed by attending informational sessions taught on-site.

Another valuable benefit of trade shows is simply networking.  We live in an Internet age where people rely on computers and mobile devices to find solutions.  With information available at the click of a finger, it’s often easier to consult with Google or on LinkedIn than it is to consult with peers directly.  However, consulting with someone over the Internet just isn’t quite the same as consulting with them in person– you’re more likely to forget them, and you don’t build always a solid, lasting connection this way.   Trade shows provide a meeting place for industry professionals across the country with whom you wouldn’t typically interact.

Trade shows are a fun way to get out of the office for a week and visit a new city, all while reaping the endless benefits listed above.  Does your firm plan to attend any trade shows in the coming year?  If so, tell us about it.  You can also visit the ShareFile tradeshow booth at the following legal shows: LegalTech New York 2013, LegalTech West Coast 2013, ABA Tech Show 2013, and the AALNC Conference.

Interested in learning more about ShareFile? Check out what this Texas-based law firm has to say in this ShareFile customer testimonial.

Write an email that your client will want to read.

Email sent to your clients should contain something of value to them, providing incentive to open messages from your office in the future. This could include interesting information related to your practice area or stories that show your team’s community involvement. If you do choose to write about law, make sure that your writing is clear, and do not assume any specific knowledge on the part of the reader. Demonstrating your expertise in the field can impress your readers, but they will appreciate your ability to clearly explain any stories and examples even more.

Create a compelling subject line.

This point is related to the previous suggestion but warrants its own discussion. Your contacts probably receive many email messages in a day, and your subject line can help them decide if they will open and read yours. Writing a clear, interesting subject line will encourage recipients to open your message. This can directly improve the effectiveness of your email campaign.

This doesn’t mean that you have to create a special offer or dramatic headline. It does mean that a subject like “Jones Law Firm – July Newsletter” probably isn’t going to be as effective as an opening line that hints at the useful content you’ve created. Let recipients know at least one interesting point or benefit from your newsletter right away by including it in the subject, and clients will be able to see that your email is valuable.

Link to additional resources.

You don’t have to write very extensively to create an effective marketing email. In fact, most people will likely scan your newsletter for the main points or spend at most a few minutes reading it. If you have more detailed information that you would like to include, you can create a paragraph summarizing a topic and include a link to further information. The link could lead the recipient to a page where you have posted longer content, or it could lead to other resources in web or PDF format. This allows you to touch on helpful topics in your newsletter without overloading the reader. If a recipient is interested in reading more, they can click to find more information on a given topic and follow only the links they choose. This allows readers to become more engaged with your email when it incites their interest.

ShareFile’s file transfer system creates links to files that can be posted in marketing emails, providing an easy way for recipients to download documents with further information. ShareFile is able to transfer files of any kind up to 10GB. To try the ShareFile service, sign up for a 30-day free trial, or call 1-800-441-3453.

What do our legal customers say?

“We try cases across the country, and ShareFile helps us easily and securely send important documents and video material to our lawyers, experts, and clients wherever they are. One great advantage we have found during trial is the ability to rapidly have trial video playback edits completed back at the office and sent directly to our lawyers wirelessly in the courtroom. Great time and cost savings!” – Mike Doyle, Doyle Raizner, LLP

Start sharing your important business documents today! Sign up for a free trial and receive double storage (normally available only to our radio listeners). 

Have questions? Give us a call 1-800-441-3453.

Check out this short video on how Doyle Raizner implemented ShareFile into its daily operations.

Interested in trying ShareFile? Call Bill O’Boyle, Director of ShareFile for Legal Sales, for a personal demo and 50% off of your first quarter of billing. Offer ends May 30th.

Call today: 1-800-441-3453 ext: 731

Manage your inbox. It’s easy to get caught up in your overwhelming inbox. If you’re like me, you may have a habit of keeping your Outlook (or other email service) open all day long. Sometimes it’s hard not to, right? Here’s something new to try- set a defined number of times per day that you will check your email. A good starting point would be to check your email 3-4 times throughout the day. Use those times to dedicate solely to answering emails. Set a specific time frame for how long you will read and return emails. Once complete, refocus on the other to-do tasks.

Take advantage of a calendar.   If not using a calendar, it’s easy to let a commitment or meeting of some sort slip your mind. It’s helpful to rank your tasks based on priority to ensure your deadlines are met. Once ranked, input into your calendar. Whether you are using a paper calendar or an electronic calendar like Microsoft Outlook, be sure to schedule time for completing those miscellaneous tasks that will add up over time if you keep procrastinating.

Stop printing and shipping. How much time is spent printing documents, prepping for shipping, using courier services, etc. in your office? My guess is if your office isn’t currently using a web-based software, like ShareFile For Legal, for document transfer that your firm is probably wasting valuable time. According to an article in the ABA Journal, “People often say that one terabyte equals 50,000 trees, and 10 terabytes would be the equivalent of all the printed collections of the Library of Congress.” Consider the amount of information you are printing on a daily basis. Not only could you be saving time, but your firm could be setting a green standard.

Interested in getting rid of your courier service and saving time? Try ShareFile for free for 30 days.

Image source: Time.com

You may be wondering what it means to be “in the cloud.”  Cloud computing offers your firm all of the same benefits as traditional legal services do, with the convenience of being able to send or receive your files from virtually anywhere.  It also offers you piece of mind knowing that the confidential case information you are storing is locked away safe online in a password-protected portal.

ShareFile may be the cloud solution you never knew existed – allowing you to store, send, and receive your legal clients’ important documents seamlessly.  By simply logging on to your personal ShareFile account, you can organize your clients by name and create subfolders for each specific set of documents.  You can also send and request files to and from your clients directly through ShareFile, without ever having to pick up the phone or close your browser window to notify the client by email.  Sign your law firm up for a free ShareFile trial today – the only drawback you’ll experience is wondering what took you so long to manage your clients in the cloud.

Many firms in the legal sector are in fear of security issues. However, the article suggests that, “In many ways there is more risk associated with a law firm attempting to secure and protect its own computing infrastructure, as compared to leveraging the expertise of a cloud computing provider.” That’s where ShareFile comes into play.

When Doyle Raizner, a Houston-based law firm, was in search of a cloud-based solution to fit its file sharing needs, the firm wanted a system that worked seamlessly with its current system. That’s when it found ShareFile. The firm practices with 13 employees, including 7 attorneys.  With ShareFile, the firm saves time, money and also remains a paperless firm. The firm eliminated the need to have a videographer in the courtroom making edits on the fly; it can now instantaneously make edits back in the office and send it via ShareFile to the courtroom.

If you’d like to learn more about how law firms can use ShareFile, check out this quick one minute video.