Preparing a litigation brief is a document management challenge, not only because of the number of documents required, but also for the need to ensure air-tight confidentiality. The firm’s legal team assembles documents uncovered in Discovery as well as the Complaint and jurisdiction of the Court papers. Depending on the nature of the suit, additional documents may include:
- corporate bylaws
- partnership and consulting agreements/contracts
- non-disclosure agreements
- purchase and loan agreements
- employee and vendor contracts
- financial records
- names and addresses of the involved parties.
The collaborative cast for brief preparation typically includes multiple attorneys, paralegals, and outside experts in accounting and other fields.
A virtual data room (VDR) is the ideal solution for a law firm: a secure online environment where the team can upload and organize an unlimited number of documents and collaborate under strict security authorization protocols.
ShareVault Makes Document Management Easy.
ShareVault has been serving the legal community for more than a dozen years. Firms choose ShareVault for its enterprise-grade security and software tools that speed the organization and collaboration process. Read on to discover how ShareVault ensures that your team collaborations are secure and that your brief is well-organized, comprehensive, and on-time.
An Organized Central Location.
A virtual data room provides a centralized location for all documents relevant to a case. Authorized parties can access and review documents on their own schedules, from any device, even from remote locations.
Setting up a ShareVault virtual data room is easy. Here are the steps:
- The team administrator creates folders and uploads documents to the ShareVault VDR.
- To speed the process, the administrator can “bulk upload” documents, including seamless integration with third-party file sharing apps like DropBox, Box, Google Drive, Microsoft SharePoint & OneDrive
- The administrator “tags” the documents with a hierarchical hashtag. A hashtag can appear in multiple folders and thus eliminates the need to physically place the same document in multiple folders
- The administrator can create “In Review” and “Final” folders to keep the brief preparation process organized
- At any point in brief preparation, the administrator can add new tags and reorder folders and files using drag-and-drop – ShareVault’s litigation document management software will automatically update numbering
Granular Access Controls.
The administrator creates a list of collaborators and issues passwords, with access based on a two-factor login. Permissions are granular: each user has access to a defined set of documents for a specified period. The user’s actions are also defined, like read only, edit, print, download, and disable screenshots. ShareVault security also includes the ability to “remotely shred” documents, even those that have been downloaded to a user’s device.
Time-Saving Features.
The ShareVault VDR includes advanced search tools, which speed finding the right documents. Search results are sorted by relevance, with synopses showing how the searched keyword(s) are used in context. Search filters include keyword(s), file type, date, and author. Filters allow sorting by file type, date, publishing source and can be “starred” as a favorite. A “Favorites” tag allows a team member to quickly return to a document at a later time.
To speed brief preparation, ShareVault features accelerated document review functionality, which includes “zoomable” thumbnails that present a quick peek of the first page of a document without opening it. Another time-saver is “infinite scrolling” that allows a user to rapidly scroll through a list of documents to quickly familiarize themselves with the contents and organization of the vault.
Efficient Collaboration.
With ShareVault’s unique architecture and controls over access, your litigation brief can be organized to support viewing or collaboration among multiple parties in real time.
ShareVault also includes a “Q&A” feature where team members can pose questions and receive replies from experts.
For optimal secure collaboration, ShareVault offers an optional feature called “Dynamic Native File Protection” (DNFP). DNFP provides ultra-secure protection for work-in-progress documents generated in Word, Excel, and other programs. ShareVault also features a task-management software called “Collabloop” for collaborative redlining of a brief or contract.
Secure Document Sharing
With ShareVault, litigation documents are protected at every level:
- Each document is AES 256-bit encrypted and can only be accessed from within the secure environment of the virtual data room
- ShareVault permissioning protocols control user access and document usage
- Since a legal brief is subject to multiple iterations and collaborators, the administrator can modify rights and permissions as your project progresses
- ShareVault document controls perform uniformly for documents viewed on any authorized device - Windows, Mac iOS, or Android - anywhere in the world.
Set Up a ShareVault Virtual Data Room Today
With ShareVault, a legal firm can protect sensitive documents and limit document access to authorized users only, and built-in software features that greatly improve the quality and speed of legal brief preparation. Plus, ShareVault is affordable, with Pricing Plans that can fit any firm’s needs. Contact us today to learn more and experience a FREE Trial!