Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
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The case management software I use in my law firm is, without a doubt, great. Although we are capable of logging into our server remotely, there are times when our attempts to log in are not successful. I use Dropbox to read documents on my phone, to work from home, and more generally to keep important and/or sensitive documents safe. All I need is a wifi connection, and I have access to whichever documents I’ve saved to the cloud. Dropbox has never failed me.
The Individual User
Dropbox is free as a single user, up until the point you need more than 2GB of data. At that point, you can either remove old files or choose to upgrade to Dropbox Pro, starting at $9.99/month. You can continue buying more data as your needs increase.
You can install Dropbox on multiple computers, as well as on your smartphones and tablets so you can have immediate access to your files at any moment; while you’re sitting on a couch, on a plane or in a conference room across the country. There is of course a Dropbox app for iphones, androids and other smartphones.
Businesses
Dropbox for business becomes incredibly sophisticated, with unlimited data storage, unlimited file recovery, unlimited version history and, the best feature of all, all members on the business plan have access to all of the same files. Files can be accessed by everyone on the subscription so they always stay up to date. It removes the need to email drafts to colleagues, and to save new drafts on the company server.
Dropbox employs 256-bit AES encryption as well as SSL for safe data transfer. If you lose a computer or a smartphone, the Dropbox team can remotely wipe from that device all the data in the Dropbox folder. Dropbox is one of the cloud-based services for lawyers I’d encourage you to thoroughly investigate. If you’re averse to anything cloud-based, I’d suggest taking a look at my last blog.
Finally, Dropbox is about to roll out their newest feature, the ability to have your personal Dropbox account and your business account both available and accessible on any device at the same time. This will efficiently marry personal and professional lives, making documents available and secure for any purpose at any time. It certainly won’t be required to make this change, but in a world where the personal and the professional are ever more intertwined, it may make sense to be able to view your personal photos and also review professional documents on the same device.
