Why Cloud eDiscovery is Your Small Law Firm's Not-So-Secret Weapon to Cutting Costs and Staying Competitive

05 July 2018 by Anith Mathai eDiscovery small-law-firm pricing cloud

Good eDiscovery software helps you cut costs, free up wasted time, compete with larger firms, and keep up with the latest technology.

In 2017, Thomson Reuters interviewed more than 300 attorneys to find out about the everyday challenges they face.

Three-fourths of the participants were either solo practitioners or attorneys in law firms with a maximum of 6 attorneys. And they described these challenges:

Cutting costs
Spending more time practicing law
Competing with larger firms
Keeping up with the latest technology.

Can eDiscovery help meet these challenges?

The participants in the Thomson Reuters study said that more than half their work involves litigation. And since eDiscovery (what’s eDiscovery?) is a growing part of modern litigation, it pays to get good at it. Here’s how it helps:

Challenge #1: Cutting costs

‘1 OUT OF 4 FIRMS rated overall profits as their primary definition of success.’ – Thompson Reuters

You can’t say ‘no’ to eDiscovery. You’ll lose clients if you do. So, how can you cut costs? The trick is to find good eDiscovery software. The best software developers know which essential features to keep, and which ones to get rid of. This cuts costs while giving you the tools you need to stay competitive. In fact, you can now get quality eDiscovery software for as little as $27 a month.

Challenge #2: Spending more time practicing law

‘“Very successful” respondents said they spend nearly 62% of their time practicing law. Contrast that with the 58% of their working day that attorneys at “unsuccessful” firms report. At first blush, this 4% discrepancy may appear insignificant. However, if each attorney plans to bill 1,800 hours this year, those at the “unsuccessful” firms need to work nearly 3,100 hours to bill that amount, while those at the “very successful” firms need to work just over 2,900.”’ – Thompson Reuters

You don’t want to waste time learning how to use your new eDiscovery software. Or worrying about fixing technical glitches. You’d rather get on with practicing law. That’s why the latest software is highly intuitive, and you’ll master it in minutes. For example, to upload files, you just ‘drag-and-drop’ them – the same way you’d move them around from one folder to another in Windows. So, you’re using skills and know-how that you already have. Plus, the best eDiscovery applications run off the internet. So you won’t need to install software/hardware or hire an IT team to run it.

Challenge #3: Competing with larger law firms

‘Another important challenge facing small law firms, particularly in a market where acquiring new business is seen by many as a significant hurdle, is competition for client business . . . . (and) identified as a key competitor, were significantly larger firms competing for the same clients.’ – Thompson Reuters

With newer technology, your small law firm has access to the same tools as larger law firms! Which levels the playing field. That’s because new tech makes it easier to design good eDiscovery software. So, the barrier to entry is lowered and there’s more competition. This drives down prices and gives small law firms more choices. And with experience, providers learn to create ready-to-use eDiscovery packages. Which are much cheaper than ‘custom’ software that only larger firms can afford.

Challenge #4: Keeping up with the latest technology

‘An emerging challenge to note is that 17% identified DIY legal websites or services as competitors . . . .(and) solo attorneys showed far more concern about DIY sites than did their larger counterparts.’ – Thompson Reuters

DIY legal websites are the new wave of tech advances. But technology can work for small law firms like yours too. And the latest tech takes care of itself so you won’t have to worry about ‘keeping up.’

Let’s take Cloud-hosting, for example. It’s been around for a long time. In fact, if you use Dropbox, Google Drive, or any Apple product, then you’re already in the Cloud. Software giants like Amazon and Google lease storage and computing power to businesses all over the world. And their thousands of interconnected servers form a public ‘Cloud.’ The beauty of the Cloud is that you don’t need to run/maintain it. In fact, you don’t even need to understand it. The system runs itself and your eDiscovery software will handle the details.

“We’re moving our files to the cloud to give 24-hour access to our attorneys, to allow them to work from outside the office when necessary.” – Three-attorney law firm

Looking for affordable eDiscovery software? Try GoldFynch.

It’s a next-generation eDiscovery application that prioritizes things that matter to small law firms.

Pay just $27 per month for a basic 3 GB case. That’s much less–every month–than the nearest comparable software. And hundreds of dollars cheaper than many others. GoldFynch’s pricing is transparent and easily available on the website.
It’s a flat, prorated rate. So it’s simple to budget for it. With legacy software, the billing is complicated and opaque, and your bill changes depending on how much data you use.
Got a small case that might become a large one later? GoldFynch scales from small to large. So, choose from a range of case sizes (3 GB to 150 GB, and more) and don’t waste money on space you don’t need. Plus, you don’t need to pay to ‘unlock’ premium features. You’ll have the full power of GoldFynch even with a starter case.
It takes just minutes to get going. It runs in the Cloud, so you use it through your web browser (Google Chrome recommended). No installation. No sales calls or emails. Plus, you get a free, fully-functional trial case (0.5 GB of data and processing cap of 1 GB), without adding a credit card.
You get the best technical support: It’s designed, developed and run by the same team. So, the technical support isn’t outsourced. Which means prompt and reliable service.