ABA Model Rules, state bar requirements, GDPR, data retention — the compliance landscape for law firms is complex and the consequences for non-compliance are severe. GCS manages the IT side of your compliance obligations so you can focus on practicing law.
Since 2012, ABA Model Rule 1.1 Comment 8 has explicitly required lawyers to stay current with "the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology." Over 40 states have adopted this requirement. Failure to comply is not just a best-practice gap — it is an ethics violation that can result in discipline.
Lawyers must understand technology risks and benefits. We implement and document the technical safeguards that demonstrate this competence — from encryption and MFA to incident response plans.
GCS implements: encryption, MFA, security training, documented policiesLawyers must make "reasonable efforts" to prevent unauthorized access to client information. We provide the technical controls — access management, DLP, audit logging — that satisfy this standard.
GCS implements: access controls, DLP, audit trails, email encryptionLawyers are responsible for ensuring IT vendors handle client data appropriately. We provide documented policies, SOC 2 compliance, and transparent reporting that satisfies this supervisory obligation.
GCS provides: SOC 2 cert, documented procedures, quarterly reportingIf your firm represents EU citizens, handles cross-border transactions, or has clients with European operations, GDPR applies to how you process and store their personal data. Non-compliance carries fines up to 4% of global revenue or €20M — whichever is higher.
Documenting the legal basis for processing each category of personal data your firm handles
Encryption, access restrictions, and pseudonymization for EU personal data at rest and in transit
Technical capability to respond to access, portability, erasure, and restriction requests within 30 days
Incident response plan with GDPR-specific notification procedures to supervisory authorities within 72 hours
Law firms face a paradox: retain too little and you risk sanctions for spoliation. Retain too much and you create unnecessary breach exposure and e-discovery costs. We implement automated retention policies that balance these competing obligations.
M365 retention policies automatically archiving email for your specified period — with litigation hold capability for active matters.
Configurable: 3-10 yearsAutomated lifecycle policies in SharePoint, NetDocuments, or your DMS — keeping documents for required periods and flagging for destruction review.
Matter-based + calendar-basedInstant preservation of all relevant documents, emails, and data when a matter triggers hold obligations — preventing accidental destruction.
Indefinite until releasedDOD-standard data wiping for retired devices, decommissioned servers, and closed-matter data — with certificates of destruction for your records.
Documented + certifiedMultiple state bars have issued formal opinions on cloud storage for client data. The consensus: cloud storage is permissible — but only with "reasonable safeguards" including encryption, access controls, and vendor due diligence. Default cloud settings do not meet this standard.
AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit — all client data
Matter-level permissions with MFA and conditional access
Data stored in US data centers — no offshore processing
Confidentiality agreements with all cloud providers
External sharing disabled by default, whitelisted per matter
Every file access, share, and download logged
Our free legal compliance assessment evaluates your firm against ABA Model Rules, your state bar requirements, data retention obligations, and cloud storage standards — and delivers a clear gap analysis showing where you are compliant and where you are exposed.