Case study: Building a secure, Synology-based always-available data system for a law firm

Introduction

In the fast-paced world of law, access to critical client files isn’t just a convenience, it’s the backbone of every case, every legal strategy, and ultimately, every client’s success. For law firms, data isn’t just data; it’s sensitive, confidential information that demands the highest levels of security, accessibility, and reliability. Downtime, data loss, or sluggish file access can lead to lost billable hours, compromised client trust, and even severe legal compliance issues.

The high stakes of legal data management

We recently partnered with “E&C” (a fictional client, as we prioritize the confidentiality and security of our actual partners), a growing law firm that recognized their existing data infrastructure was becoming a critical vulnerability. Their challenge: how to achieve an “always-on”, secure, and resilient storage solution that could keep pace with their demanding practice.

Note: For confidentiality reasons, the law firm in this case study is represented by a fictional company name. The challenges and solutions are real, but identifying details have been changed to protect client privacy.

The Challenge: E&C’s Data Dilemma

E&C’s previous setup relied on an aging legal file server that was no longer fit for purpose. This created a cascade of problems:

• Slow performance. Legal teams experienced frustrating delays accessing and saving large documents, directly translating to billable hours lost.
• Data security risks. The legacy system lacked modern protections, raising serious concerns about law firm data security and potential vulnerabilities to cyber threats like ransomware.
• Inadequate backup. Their existing backup solution was cumbersome, slow, and did not provide the robust offsite backup necessary for true disaster recovery. This meant significant risk to their business continuity plan in the event of a local disaster.
• Limited remote access: With an increasingly mobile workforce, the firm struggled to provide secure remote access for attorneys and staff working from different locations.

E&C knew they needed a complete overhaul, not just a patch. They sought a solution that would deliver unwavering reliability, bulletproof security, and seamless accessibility for their entire team.

Key project highlights

Here’s how our solution transformed E&C’s operations: