Strong & Hanni Solves Storage Woes with Docs by Filevine
How a powerful, historic firm centralized their data, cut costs, and found peace of mind.
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The Challenge
Strong & Hanni, a well-established law firm with a rich history dating back to 1888, faced a growing challenge: managing their data. With 90 attorneys and a total of 160 personnel spread across two locations, the firm needed a document management system that could keep pace with their expanding needs.
Saved $50,000 in on-site storage maintenance and upgrading costs
Stopped paying $72,000-96,000 each year in data storage surcharges
Unlocked powerful case management tools that enhanced non-billable work.
Storage Costs Eat Away at Profits
The firm’s previous solution, NetDocuments, was becoming a burden. The firm was locked into a tiered storage system, incurring significant costs — $6,000 to $8,000 per month — for exceeding their allotted storage space. "We were getting hit with 'luxury taxes' on our storage like crazy," said Denney Fifield, the firm's Director of Technology Services, highlighting the frustration with NetDocuments’ pricing structure.
“You can’t say you have a 7% growth on data anymore. It’s more like 30% — or even 50%, Everybody’s got a 4K camera in their pocket. They’re recording more and more — and it is evidence. You have to store it somewhere”
The Headache of Scattered Information
Beyond the financial strain, NetDocuments' limitations were hindering productivity. The system lacked features like calendaring, collaboration tools, and task management. The firm tried to fill the gaps by using Outlook as a practice management system, but lawyers and paralegals complained it was inefficient.
To reduce storage surcharges, the firm stored large video and audio files in different repositories, but scattered information across different systems made searching for critical documents a time-consuming task. "Our attorneys charge $400 an hour," explained Fifield. "If they have to spend ten minutes looking for something, they just lost $66 in unbilled time."
Finding Relief with Filevine
Strong & Hanni discovered Docs by Filevine, a cloud-based legal document management system designed specifically for the needs of law firms.
Top 10 Benefits the Firm Unlocked with Docs by Filevine:
Unlimited Storage
Docs by Filevine eliminated the storage constraints that plagued NetDocuments. They can now store all of their documents — of any size and any format — in one secure, searchable place.
"We're eliminating on-site storage that would cost us $50,000 to upgrade."
One Centralized System
Docs by Filevine consolidated all their data into a single location, enhancing document search and retrieval. “We don’t have people wondering where each document got saved,” said Fifield. “Our data has been consolidated and that in itself is going to save money over time.”
Enhanced Task Management
Without Docs by Filevine, the workers at Strong & Hanni were effectively using their email inbox as a to-do list. "Now, attorneys can see what needs to happen and have more control over it,” said Fifield. “They don’t have to comb through their inbox to find out what’s going on.”
Improved Organization
Filevine’s document management system offered superior organization and accessibility features. “They are able to accurately see what’s going on in a particular matter.” Importantly, Docs by Filevine allowed users to play audio and video files directly within the system, eliminating the need to download and save them to separate locations. “My teams feel like they’re in more control of their practices.”
Simplified Searching
With all their documents in one central location, finding information became much faster and easier. “I used to hear lawyers panicking. ‘I’ve got to find this document, where is it? I’ve got to find this video, where is it?’” said Fifield. “They’ve got a deposition next day, or a trial coming up. A centralized system eliminates a lot of worry for us.”
Customization for Diverse Practice Areas
As a full-service firm, Strong & Hanni covers a wide range of practice areas, including family law, insurance defense, business law, and criminal defense. Each one of these has very different document management requirements. “That’s where Filevine has been really outstanding,” said Fifield, “because we can customize our templates to fit each group.”
Reduced Data Spread
Data security improved as there was no longer a need to search for scattered documents across different systems. “If we are required by a court to remove data based on a court order, where is that data?” asked Fifield. “Before, I’d have to search everywhere. With it being in one location, I have one place to look.
“They’ve got a deposition next day, or a trial coming up. A centralized system eliminates a lot of worry for us.”
Efficient Email Management
Docs by Filevine simplified email handling. Users could now save emails and attachments and assign tasks within the same workflow, rather than needing to send an additional email to ask someone to do something. “It’s a big time saver for a lot of my secretaries and paralegals — they love that ability,” said Fifield.
Automated Reporting
Some paralegals at Strong & Hanni use Docs by Filevine to receive automated reports each day summarizing all their activity, which they share with attorneys who want to stay abreast of their daily work.
Anytime, Anywhere Access
Cloud-based Filevine provides secure access to documents from any device with an internet connection. "The thing that I really enjoy about Filevine document management is you have access to it anywhere you have an internet connection," said Fifield. “To me, cloud storage is a must. You have to have it.”
A Document Management Success Story
“There have been a lot of things that we can do that we couldn't do with NetDocs,” summarized Fifield. Docs by Filevine addressed their core pain points, delivering unlimited storage, a centralized system, improved task management, and enhanced organization.
“I'd recommend Filevine to any firm that needs storage. Filevine was built by attorneys for attorneys. They understand the animal that is an attorney. If a firm just needs to put a limited number of documents in the cloud, other software is fine. But if they need more, then I truly believe they need to look seriously at Filevine, because Filevine understands attorneys.”