Managed IT and cybersecurity for law firms
Controls written for the duty of confidentiality, client files and backups kept where the firm decides, access by matter that ends the day someone leaves, and the email rules that stop a closing payment going to the wrong account. For sole practitioners to 60-lawyer firms running Clio, PCLaw, Soluno and Unity.
What breaks in a law firm, and the day it is not allowed to
A law firm’s IT has to be invisible on closing day, on the morning of a motion, and at 4:55 p.m. when a filing deadline is five minutes away. The failures we see are rarely dramatic until they land on one of those days: the document management system locks a file a clerk needs, the practice management database slows to a crawl because the server is six years old, a departed associate’s account still has access to client folders, and an email arrives from a “client” or a “lender” changing the account a closing payment should go to.
That last one is the incident Ontario firms actually lose money on, and the defence is a combination of email security, multi-factor sign-in and a written rule that payment instructions are confirmed by phone on a known number.
What a breach costs a firm is well documented. LAWPRO’s practicePRO published a case study in 2025 of a 24-person Ottawa firm whose network was brute-forced: two weeks offline, four weeks to full function, between $80,000 and $210,000 in costs, and an attacker who emailed the firm’s clients and opposing counsel. The authors note that the Law Society offered no incident playbook and that the Rules do not say who to notify or what to do, which is why we give every firm a written incident response plan before anything happens. LAWPRO adds cyber coverage to its policy from January 2027; until then, and after, the controls are the firm’s own responsibility.
Confidentiality, By-Law 9 records and where client files live
The Law Society of Ontario expects a licensee to protect client information with reasonable diligence, keeps detailed trust record requirements under By-Law 9, and has published technology guidance on cloud services and electronic records.
None of that certifies an IT provider, and we make no such claim. What we provide is the set of controls the duty of confidentiality assumes, documented so the managing partner can show them to an insurer, a client doing due diligence or an auditor.
In practice that means every laptop encrypted and enrolled so a machine left in a cab is a nuisance rather than a breach; multi-factor sign-in on email, the document system and the practice management platform; access that is granted by matter and removed the day a lawyer or clerk leaves, with a record of who had what; email filtering and domain authentication so the firm’s own name cannot be used against its clients; and backups of the document store, the accounting system and Microsoft 365 that cannot be altered by anyone on the network, with a restore tested every quarter.
Where client files are stored is a decision the firm should make with the facts in hand. Many firms prefer, and some clients require, that data stay in Canada. Microsoft 365 can be homed in Canada, backups can be kept in Canadian data centres, and a server can stay in the office with an off-site copy in Canada. For every storage and backup option we quote, we state where the data physically lives. Trust records and the accounting system that produces them get the same treatment, with the retention By-Law 9 requires built into the backup schedule.
Legal software and systems we support
Ontario firms run practice management and accounting on Clio, PCLaw, Soluno, CosmoLex Canadian edition or Jonas Premier, document management on NetDocuments, iManage, Worldox or SharePoint, and real estate and litigation workflows on Unity, Teraview, DivorceMate, ACL and the court e-filing portals. Several of these, PCLaw in particular, still run as desktop applications against a database on a server in the office, which is why the server, the network and the backup matter more in a law firm than in most offices of the same size.
We support the servers, networks and workstations these run on and hold vendor contacts for the applications, so a database fault or an integration error goes to the vendor with the network already ruled out. Dictation and transcription tools, scanners feeding the document system, e-signature platforms, secure client portals and the two or three legacy applications every established firm keeps for old matters are supported alongside them.
Microsoft 365 runs email, calendars and documents, with Teams or a hosted phone system reaching reception, the lawyers and the boardroom.
Where the firm is ready, we move the server to a hosted model with the data kept in Canada; where it is not, we keep it healthy, patched and backed up, with a replacement date on the calendar. Windows 10 reached end of support in October 2025, and a lawyer still working on it is a risk every cyber insurer now asks about.
What the managed plan covers for a law firm
The managed IT plan is priced per user per month and covers unlimited remote help desk, on-site visits across the GTA, endpoint protection, email filtering, multi-factor setup and Microsoft 365 backup. For a firm that translates into a few specific outcomes.
- Security controls written for the duty of confidentiality and the insurer’s questionnaire: MFA everywhere, monitored endpoint protection, encrypted laptops, email filtering and domain authentication, and a written incident response plan.
- Payment-fraud controls for closings: email security plus a written rule that any change to payment instructions is confirmed by phone on a known number.
- Backups of the document store, the practice management database, trust accounting and Microsoft 365, kept where the firm decides, with a tested restore and a written recovery order.
- Access by matter, granted and removed with a record, so a departing lawyer’s access ends the same day and a client audit has an answer.
- Microsoft 365 homed in Canada with shared mailboxes per practice group, secure file sharing instead of attachments, and licences removed when someone leaves.
- Server care for the application server most firms still run, and a firm network with a managed firewall, VPN for lawyers working from home and Wi-Fi that keeps the boardroom off the document system.
Work with a clear start and finish is quoted as a project before anything begins. For law firms that is usually one of these.
- Document management rollout or migration to NetDocuments, iManage or SharePointFixed quote
- Practice management server replacement, or move to a Canadian-hosted platformFixed quote
- Security review and written incident response plan ahead of an insurance renewalFixed quote
- Merger, lateral hire or partner departure: accounts, matters and data moved with a recordFixed quote
- Office move: cabling, network, phones and the server moved over a weekendFixed quote
What we set up for a typical 20-person firm
Take a firm of six lawyers, two clerks, four assistants, a bookkeeper and reception, practising real estate, wills and corporate work, with PCLaw on a server in the office, documents in SharePoint, Unity and Teraview for closings, and Microsoft 365 for everything else.
The server runs on a supported Windows Server version with the PCLaw database and trust accounting on it, backed up nightly to a local appliance and to a Canadian data centre, with the copy immutable for 30 days and a restore tested every quarter.
Every laptop is encrypted and enrolled in device management. Microsoft 365 is homed in Canada with multi-factor sign-in enforced, email filtering in front and the domain’s email authentication set to reject spoofing, and the tenant is backed up. Client files sit in SharePoint libraries per matter, with access granted by matter and removed on file closing or departure, and documents are shared through secure links rather than attachments. The real estate clerks work to a written rule that any payment instruction change is confirmed by phone on a number already on file before funds move. The firm’s firewall is managed, with VPN for lawyers reviewing files from home, and the boardroom Wi-Fi cannot reach the server. A one-page incident response plan names who calls whom, including LAWPRO and the firm’s insurer, and sits in the managing partner’s desk and in the documentation. The firm answers its insurer’s renewal questionnaire from a document we maintain, and if the server fails on a closing day, the written recovery order has the clerks working from the previous night’s copy within hours.
Where we support law firms
On-site visits are included in the managed plan across the GTA. The firms we support are concentrated in Toronto, in the Financial District and along University Avenue near the courthouses, in the midtown professional buildings along Yonge and Eglinton and in North York and Scarborough, in Mississauga around the City Centre and the Hurontario corridor, in Vaughan along Highway 7, and in Oakville. Markham, Richmond Hill, Brampton and Etobicoke firms are covered on the same terms, and lawyers working from home anywhere in Ontario are supported remotely under the same plan.
Questions people ask
Can you make our firm compliant with Law Society rules?
No provider can certify that, and the Law Society does not approve IT providers. What we do is put in place the controls the duty of confidentiality and By-Law 9 record-keeping assume, document them, and give the managing partner the evidence an insurer, a client or an auditor asks for.
Where will our client files be stored?
Wherever the firm decides, with the location stated in writing for every option we quote. Microsoft 365 can be homed in Canada, backups can be kept in Canadian data centres, and a server can stay in your office with an off-site copy that is also in Canada. Many clients now ask for Canadian data residency in their engagement terms, and we set the firm up to answer yes.
Do you support Clio, PCLaw, Soluno and NetDocuments?
Yes, along with CosmoLex, Jonas Premier, iManage, Worldox, Unity, Teraview, DivorceMate and the court e-filing portals. We support the servers, workstations and networks they run on and hold vendor contacts for the applications, so a database or integration fault reaches the vendor with the network already ruled out.
What stops a closing payment going to a fraudster's account?
Email filtering and domain authentication that catch most impersonation, multi-factor sign-in so an attacker cannot read a mailbox to learn when funds move, and a written rule that any change to payment instructions is confirmed by phone on a number already on file. The first two are in the managed plan; the third we help the firm write and the clerks follow.
What does managed IT cost for a law firm?
The managed plan is $125 to $175 per user per month for lawyers and staff with an account and a computer. Servers, firewalls and other hardware are quoted separately, and a document management rollout, a server replacement or a security review is a fixed-price project agreed before work starts.
A lawyer is leaving the firm. What happens to their access?
Their accounts are disabled on the date you give us, their mailbox and files are preserved and reassigned as the firm directs, matter access is removed and the change is recorded. Where a lawyer takes clients with them, we export the files the firm authorizes and keep a record of what left.
Tell us what’s going on
Pick how urgent it is and leave a way to reach you. The help desk replies by phone or email. If work has stopped, call 647-812-3775 instead.
Something broken, or something to plan?
For anything urgent, call. A technician answers the emergency line 24/7. For everything else, open a ticket and tell us what is going on.