How ShareFile helps firms keep pace with changes in law practice
Ari Kaplan. (Photo by Tori Soper)
Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Adrienne Lester, senior director of business services at ShareFile, a secure content collaboration, file sharing and sync software.
They discussed the trends driving the need for more content collaboration and real-time engagement, how ShareFile helps law firms keep pace with changes in the practice of law, where legal professionals are leveraging technology to support their compliance requirements, and how lawyers are taking advantage of virtual data rooms and client portals.
Ari Kaplan: Tell us about your background and your role at ShareFile.
Adrienne Lester: The business services team focuses on legal and accounting professionals. I lead a team of 40, and each member has periodic in-depth conversations with lawyers and legal professionals about how the practice is changing.
Ari Kaplan: What trends do you see in the legal industry that are driving the need for more content collaboration and real-time engagement with colleagues and clients?
Adrienne Lester: The first is technology adoption. Countless applications enhance automation to improve productivity, but it is challenging for legal practitioners to choose among the different options. Generative AI is also a popular discussion topic, and your recent report found that 30% of the participating law firm leaders work in organizations that are using it. It is obviously a huge win if applied correctly, such as for regulatory compliance. Remote work and virtual collaboration continue to influence legal practitioners managing their firms from various locations and who must use technology that empowers them to do so successfully. Client expectations are also driving improvements that are helping expand collaboration and accelerate responsiveness and accessibility as legal matters become more complex. And security and confidentiality have become paramount concerns.
Adrienne Lester is senior director of business services at ShareFile, a secure content collaboration, file sharing and sync software.
Ari Kaplan: How does your team tailor ShareFile to help law firms keep pace with changes in the practice of law?
Adrienne Lester: We want to fit into a law firm’s existing workflow because the best technology is a technology you can’t see. We want to achieve that from a productivity perspective and at the natural intersection with security. Our objective is to offer ease of use while protecting everything. Professionals looking for improved visibility or efficiency can use our tools for an array of email platforms, including Gmail and Outlook, to streamline encryption, message tracking with return receipts and granular permissions. We also embed electronic signature functionality into the workflow to create a seamless experience.
Ari Kaplan: How are you seeing legal professionals leveraging technology to support their compliance requirements?
Adrienne Lester: Various tools offer automated compliance monitoring. ShareFile recently released an automated threat remediation tool that ensures a user’s behavior matches their login profile. For example, if a lawyer begins downloading files from North Carolina and subsequently from a different country, it triggers an alert requiring the account holder to reset their password. We combine that security protocol with multifactor authentication for an additional layer of protection. For complex transactions, we also offer version control as a native feature to support a seamless workflow.
Ari Kaplan: How does the way legal professionals do this differ from how accounting professionals leverage technology to support those requirements?
Adrienne Lester: There are a lot of similarities in that both verticals perform heavy data and document sharing. That said, there are specific workflows that an accountant may use that a legal professional would not. To accommodate that distinction, ShareFile recently introduced its solutions platform. Legal teams typically create more documentation with a heightened focus on attorney-client communication and confidentiality. While accountants also share large amounts of data, it is often used to negotiate between various stakeholders and ensure proper distribution of that information.
Ari Kaplan: In what types of matters are lawyers taking advantage of virtual data rooms and client portals?
Adrienne Lester: Mergers and acquisitions are the biggest reasons for using a virtual data room, particularly during due diligence, when there is significant document sharing and collaboration. Beyond that, litigation and legal disputes require discovery, as do real estate transactions and other document-intensive intellectual property and corporate governance matters. The more document-intensive the project and the greater the number of stakeholders, the more likely you will be to take advantage of a data room because you can create various permissions according to an individual’s responsibility. Digital portals allow lawyers to increase transparency with their clients and accelerate approvals, such as securing signatures from different team members.
Ari Kaplan: How is technology driving law firm growth and success?
Adrienne Lester: Your recent report found that law firms are implementing increasing levels of automation for document creation, email filing and data extraction, which are all freeing professionals to enhance their productivity. This also provides additional time for business development and client service. The more you can automate, the more you can optimize your experience. While embracing technology in a field considered slow to change may be challenging, legal professionals are eager to deploy solutions that optimize the lawyer and client experience to drive the industry forward.
Ari Kaplan: How do you see the way lawyers and legal professionals collaborate and share content evolving?
Adrienne Lester: Moving away from paper is a significant development, though it is remarkable to still make that point in 2024. Although many of the leaders we speak to rely on printed work and records, most are implementing technology to empower their practices. They are also finding ways to balance security and productivity. At ShareFile, we want to blend in the background and let our users practice law, especially since clients are increasingly willing to switch firms for a more technology-enabled experience, particularly those who apply automation and generative AI to be more responsive and transparent.
Listen to the complete interview at Reinventing Professionals.
Ari Kaplan regularly interviews leaders in the legal industry and in the broader professional services community to share perspective, highlight transformative change and introduce new technology at his blog and on iTunes.
This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.
