Washington DC Law Firm Finds Ease of Access and Simplicity with Boxtop

Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram, P.C. is a Washington D.C.-based law firm that serves clients in the areas of business, construction, power and energy construction, real estate, and commercial litigation. The firm has approximately 25 employees.  Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram used an outside consultant to manage its IT needs for more than 25 years, but with the firm’s servers nearing end of life, management was ready for a change. After a referral from one of their clients who was familiar with the Tabush Group, Shapiro Lifschitz & Schram began collaborating with Tabush Group in October 2018 to determine the best solution for the firm. The migration to the cloud was successfully implemented in early 2019.

Challenge

While Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram retained an outside IT consultant for larger issues, first-level user questions were handled in-house by Susan Hubert, Executive Director at Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram, who has a background in both IT and office management. One concern the firm faced was who would be able to replace Susan when she retired since she has such a unique skill set along with intimate knowledge of the firm’s technology and processes. In addition, the firm’s servers were reaching end of life and about 10-12 PCs needed to be replaced due to their age. The financial cost of upgrades and new equipment was an immediate concern.

The greatest cause of frustration was the firm’s remote access solution, Terminal Server, was not reliable. When attorneys attempted to work remotely, they had issues getting and staying connected to the network.  Attorneys grew frustrated when they could not access files they needed to accomplish work outside of the office. This resulted in attorneys coming into the office during situations where they would have preferred to be working from home, such as during inclement weather or illness of a child.  The firm also faced compatibility problems when multiple people worked on the same document because not all applications were up-to-date.  Security was also a concern as more of Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram’s insurance carriers were requiring higher levels of security to the firm’s systems and files to keep premiums low or even just to maintain coverage.

These numerous issues led Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram to want to move its IT completely out of house so that the firm would not have to worry about these IT headaches. One of the firm’s clients referred them to Tabush Group to explore the benefits of moving to the cloud.

Approach

In 2018, Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram met with Tabush Group to explore our cloud service, Boxtop. Tabush Group is a sponsor of the Association of Legal Administrator’s (ALA) Capital Chapter, an organization that Susan was already a member, so right from the beginning, she felt an additional level of trust in the relationship. Once Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram chose to migrate to the cloud with Boxtop, Tabush Group worked closely with the firm to ensure a successful transition. “Weekly meetings prior to onboarding were extremely beneficial,” says Susan. “We were constantly looking at what was done and what had to be done to make sure the project remained on target.”

Results

Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram is very happy with its decision to move to the cloud with Boxtop. There was nothing new to learn since all of the applications they were already using came with them to Boxtop, including essential programs, such as Tabs3 and Worldox. The entire firm continued to work without being disrupted or having to learn new programs or establish new work flows, allowing everyone to be productive and accomplish their tasks more efficiently. In addition, Boxtop allows easy access to files from home, which provides for a better work-life balance. “Being able to go home, log in, and access everything exactly as we do at the office makes everything so simple. It’s a refreshing change for the attorneys to have reliable accessibility,” says Susan. “Attorneys are just as effective remotely as when they are in the office.”

Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram had concerns about losing insurance coverage and rising premiums due to their former lower security measures. This was no longer an issue with Boxtop. “We’re far more proactive than reactive so it was important to do everything possible to secure our firm and our clients’ data,” says Susan. As such, the firm chose Boxtop Premium, which offers additional data protection and security features, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), increased email security, and customizable web content filtering and security.

Once on Boxtop, Tabush Group handles all of the user questions, as well as maintenance and updates. Now everyone at Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram is on the same version of applications. When multiple people collaborate on the same document, there are no longer compatibility issues. “It’s been great, it’s working,” says Susan. “I no longer get IT support calls and that was something we were hoping to achieve.” With Tabush Group managing its IT, management at Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram now focuses on working with their clients instead of their IT.