Secure Document Exchange with Biscom

Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr 

Founded in 1893, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP is one of the oldest law firms in the country. However, the 375-attorney firm is distinctly forward-looking when it comes to technology. It prides itself on deploying sophisticated solutions to support the diverse needs of both its attorneys and clients. 

Transferring files has always been a challenge for law firms. Law firms employ various methods—from snail mail to email—but face issues with efficiency, timeliness, and execution. Furthermore, it is often difficult to track the receipt of the files without multiple follow-up confirmation activities. The law firm of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr was ready for a solution to address these issues and decided to approach these problems head on. 

Underkill vs. Overkill

“We used to share files in two ways: underkilll or overkill,” comments Joel Rothman, a partner and board-certified attorney in intellectual property law, who also serves as a member of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s technology committee. 

Underkill refers to using traditional measures to send files, such as copying the information to a CD-ROM or USB drive and delivering it via courier or postal mail. These methods are inefficient and a waste of valuable time—both with the process of burning or loading the information and with waiting on its delivery to clients. 

“Underkill would get the information physically where it needed to be,” says Rothman. “However, it costs money, things can break, it isn’t immediate and you can’t monitor security every step of the process.” 

Ironically, an overkill method presents some of the same challenges as underkill when it comes to productivity and security. Overkill refers to a significant effort deploying a complex solution to solve a fairly simple file transfer process. 

According to Rothman, “There’s no need to put up a SharePoint installation if all you’re trying to do is transfer 100 gigabytes of data one time. Solutions like this and FTP sites can facilitate the exchange of large amounts of data but don’t have the desired security or authentication.” 

Email: The Collaboration Killer?

“What do you mean there were only three attachments?”  When it comes to sharing files, nothing stifles the collaboration process faster than email. Spam filters, message size limitations, incorrect email addresses—all of these constraints jeopardize the successful and secure delivery and receipt of important documents and files.   

“Email only works up to a certain point and it works inconsistently,” says Rothman, who describes a typical/frustrating scenario—the need to break up information into smaller files, send multiple email messages and resend emails due to a failed delivery. This steals valuable billing time away from attorneys, diminishes the collaborative efforts with clients and diminishes the law firm’s technical expertise.   

“Imagine a client struggling through a pile of emails to find all the exhibits for a motion and one email is missing. This isn’t a good place for you or your client to be in,” comments Rothman. 

“Use it once, you can use it a million times”

Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr chose Biscom Secure File Transfer, Biscom’s secure document exchange technology, to solve their file transfer challenges based on its proven security, ease-of-use, and auditing capabilities. The SFT implementation has resulted in a remarkably smooth process for its attorneys, who quickly adopted the solution and its simple interface, As Rothman says, “You use it once, you can use it a million times, I was transferring files within five minutes.” And as more lawyers use it within the firm, the benefits are multiplying, particularly in the following areas:  

• Collaboration: Using SFT has helped Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr differentiate itself. Rothman cites one example, “I’ll get hundreds of marketing and advertising documents to review. With Biscom, I can confirm that the clients get every document returned to them in an organized manner which makes it much easier and efficient on their end.” 
• Security: Underkill and overkill transfer methods are no longer necessary. With Biscom, each delivery is uploaded, tracked, and securely delivered to the client within minutes.
• Productivity: Attorneys can now focus on practicing law instead of wasting valuable (and billable) time on file transfers.

From the IT side, the benefits are numerous as well. As Bill Costello, Director of Information Technology for Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr sums up, “Biscom is straight-forward  to use and easy to implement. Our clients adapt to it quickly, and our lawyers even more quickly.”