Legal and Professional

Virtual Data Room

Many forms of business transactions are conducted using the concept of a virtual data room. Such facilities allow lawyers, accountants, tax advisors, consultants and clients to access the information they require immediately and from anywhere with an internet connection. The complete security protection of Safe4 means that only the necessary information is made available – comprehensive and granular permission controls ensure that access is restricted to users in accordance with their role in the transaction. Coupled with the Safe4 audit trail of all system events, including document access, the managing professionals have a range of tools to ensure efficient and complete control of the documents needed for the transaction.

Litigation Support

Safe4 was used to manage a large number of critical documents required in one of the largest and most notorious fraud cases in history. The simplicity with which documents can be classified for disclosure / discovery, and the speed and effectiveness of performing disclosure meant that the complexity of the case did not prevent rapid and totally secure sharing of information with authorised parties.

Mergers and Acquisitions

When companies are being bought and sold, large volumes of information are shared between the participating parties. Again using the concept of a virtual data room, structures can be set up to handle all of the financial and contractual documents required to complete the transaction. Legal and financial due diligence is conducted more quickly and efficiently when all of the documents are accessible through a single interface, and classified according to their subject and the level of access required. As always, the Safe4 audit trail maintains a complete record of who has done what. At the end of the transaction the complete case can be summarised in a single ZIP file for presentation to the client.

Property Conveyancing

All types of property, whether residential or commercial, freehold or leasehold, are transferred using well-established processes when being bought and sold. The documents necessary to complete these transactions can all be made available to all of the parties involved in the process through Safe4, with full transparency. The frustrating and sometimes costly delays in executing these transactions can be significantly reduced when document movement between participants is immediate and completely secure.

Family Law

Occasionally matrimonial and other types of family case require the large files that constitute evidential records to be passed between legal representatives. In many cases these files are too large for email – and in any event, email should never be used to transport such files according to Solicitors Regulation Authority guidelines. Safe4 not only achieves instantaneous delivery of such files with total confidentiality, it maintains a full audit trail and record of delivery, and access by the receiving parties.

Wills, Probate and Inheritance Planning

For many professionals, including lawyers and will writers, a lifelong relationship with a client can be established if a trusted relationship can be created with a client. Inheritance planning is a service which has this capability, but does not always create such long-term relationships. In many cases, the provider of the will-writing service will assist the client by drafting a will but may never see the client again, and will lose the opportunity of providing other services such as probate, trusts, LPAs, and other activities that will assist with the process of planning and preparing an estate. Safe4 offers an ideal way of keeping in contact with clients, particularly when very long-term planning is involved, by periodically reminding them of what the service provider is able to do on their behalf through automatic notification of uploads into the Common Folders segment of the Safe4 vault. By placing a newsletter or budget summary, for example, into a single folder, Safe4 will automatically notify hundreds or thousands of users that new information has been provided, with a link to login to the vault and read the document concerned. A Safe4 inheritance vault can be used not only to hold the will itself, but also asset and liability registers, insurance policies, mortgage documents, equity certificates, funeral plans and wishes, treasured family photographs, and a host of other documents that will have real value when the estate is being prepared for probate.

A further benefit for the provider of the will-writing service is that contact can be established with the parties named in the will as executors or beneficiaries. If they are invited to register as users of Safe4, they can themselves potentially become clients of the service provider.

Surveying and Valuing

Property transfer transactions will generally require a survey to be carried out, or at least a valuation for mortgage purposes. By holding all of the information generated by the survey in Safe4, the professional concerned can protect themselves against the risk of potential action by a lender in the event of property values falling at some future date. This will in turn allow reductions to be obtained in Professional Indemnity Insurance premiums, if contemporaneous valuation information is entered into a Safe4 vault where it cannot be changed retrospectively.

Financial Accounting Services

If a Safe4 vault is used to hold the information involved in the preparation of financial accounts on behalf of clients, significant savings and improvements in efficiency can be achieved by accountants and clients alike. Taxation affairs, annual returns, and financial records of all types can be held in Safe4, with a full record of delivery and access.

Signing Documents

PDF documents can be signed in Safe4 without using any external technology. The system allows documents to be selected from a folder, and the requested signatories to be chosen from a list of users who have access to the folder. An email will be sent to each signatory with a link to the document. When each user chooses to sign, they will be required to enter their password. After all of the required signatures have been added, Safe4 will create a new version of the document and append an additional page containing a record of all of the signatures. This approach is acceptable to HMRC and Companies House in the UK.

Summary

The examples given above are by no means a full representation of the areas of professional service that can be enhanced by the use of Safe4. Making Safe4 the preferred means of document delivery and storage will bring efficiency and financial benefits – as well as the major advantage of establishing a different form of relationship with the client.