Peer to Peer Magazine

26 (Google docs) and Microsoft (Office 365). Google docs, in particular, has become the platform of choice for collaborative work for millennials. As these millennials progress in their careers, they are not going to accept going back to sending legal documents back and forth by email. Many law firms have indeed signed up to Windows or Google to enjoy real time collaboration. This is smooth enough when you're co-authoring with your own internal team. However, when you need to share and co-author documents with people outside the law firm, relying on Microsoft and Google start to seem less than ideal. Real-time co-authoring and its downside There's no getting away from the fact that both Microsoft and Google host data in shared clouds, meaning that even the most sensitive and valuable of a law firm's information is stored alongside that of millions of other consumer and business users, on servers that are physically located all around the world. Indeed, many law firms forbid real-time collaboration altogether because they don't want their firm's private data stored on these communal servers that are home to many people's data, called 'multi-tenanted' in the industry. There's also the questions to consider of whether your procedures for sharing documents via Microsoft or Google are in line with your firm's security protocols, and also whether asking clients and partners to sign up for Google or Microsoft accounts to co-author with you impacts negatively on your firm's image of professionalism. How to find the best co-authoring solution for your firm Fortunately, new technologies are emerging to take away the friction and pain associated with co-authoring securely online with outside parties in real time. But how does a law firm go about finding a provider who can harness these exciting new technological advances to let its people co-author easily with anyone, anywhere, in real time, and with regulatory compliance? First of all, look for a co-authoring service that will give you your own single tenant server, or even let you host on your own servers, That way you know exactly where your data is and your firm has control over its own data security. However, this method of collaborating inevitably results in everyone working onto their own version. One unfortunate person must then spend hours laboriously collating all the feedback and incorporating everyone's input into one master document. A busy legal professional doesn't need this hassle on top of their usual work pressures, especially when they could be spending their day on more lucrative client-facing activity. Collaborating by email also leaves a firm wide open to security breaches. Most emails aren't encrypted. It's also easy to mistakenly - or intentionally - email the document to someone who shouldn't have it. There's no central audit trail with email, and no way of knowing who has accessed, printed or forwarded it on. The other traditional way of collaborating with multiple co-authors on legal documents is to set up review meetings, either physically around a table, online or by telephone conference call. This is arguably the most collaborative way because everyone is present and able to comment and provide input at the same time. There are also no issues with multiple versions because everyone is working from the same master document. However, getting everyone together - either around a table, online or on the phone - can be a logistical challenge. There's also no audit trail. More recently, technolo has advanced to the point where legal professionals can collaborate online, in real time. This means users can work simultaneously on the same document wherever they are, and see the changes on screen as they happen. This facility was rolled out several years ago by the likes of Google New technologies are emerging to take away the friction and pain associated with co-authoring securely online with outside parties in real time.

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