Secure document sharing for attorneys: the features you actually need
A short, opinionated list of what makes a difference for privileged documents — and the features that sound impressive but change nothing.
Try it in one click.
Three private surfaces. Same zero-knowledge architecture.
Features that change the outcome
Client-side encryption. The document is ciphertext before it leaves your device. Everything else on this list is secondary to it.
Per-recipient links. One link per person, so a leak is attributable and revocation is surgical.
Passphrase on a second channel. The link and the passphrase should not travel together; splitting them means intercepting one is not enough.
Expiry by default. A disclosure that stops working on its own is a disclosure you do not have to remember to clean up.
Revocation that is immediate. One click, effective for everything not already downloaded.
Per-viewer watermarking. For read-only distribution, a watermark identifies the source of a screenshot.
Key rotation on removal. Otherwise "removing" someone is decoration.
Append-only audit trail. Grants, revocations, link creation and access, exportable, without content.
Resumable large uploads. Discovery bundles are large; a tool that fails at 80% teaches people to use consumer transfer services.
Encrypted file names and structure. A folder tree can disclose a strategy, a counterparty or a client relationship.
Features that sound impressive and change little
"Bank-level encryption." Meaningless. Ask what the server holds.
"Encrypted at rest." Standard everywhere; protects against stolen hardware, not against the provider.
"ISO-certified data centres." That is the building, not your documents.
"Two-factor available." Necessary, not sufficient, and much weaker than passkeys.
"Compliance ready." Compliance is your programme; a product can support it, not confer it.
"AI-powered document insights." By definition, something is reading your privileged documents.
The questions to send a vendor 1. When I upload a document, what exactly does your server store? 2. Can any employee, under any internal process, produce its plaintext? 3. What happens cryptographically when I remove a user from a matter? 4. Are names and folder structure encrypted, or only file contents? 5. Which certifications do you hold today, and which are planned?
A note on convenience Every control above must be fast, or your team will not use it under deadline pressure. The best secure sharing tool is the one that is also the quickest way to send a 4 GB bundle at 11pm — which is why performance belongs on a security feature list.
Try it in one click.
Three private surfaces. Same zero-knowledge architecture.