See how moving from SharePoint to NetDocuments can transform your law firm with purpose-built features designed specifically for legal professionals.
It Seemed Like the Obvious Choice…
In the early 2000s, Microsoft SharePoint became the go-to solution for many law firms. It was already part of the Microsoft ecosystem, integrated with Office, and seemed like a natural fit for document management.
When General Solutions Meet Specialized Needs
But as law firms grew and their document management needs became more sophisticated, SharePoint’s limitations became increasingly apparent.
As a general-purpose collaboration platform designed for all industries, SharePoint lacks the legal-specific features that modern law firms need. What started as a convenient choice has become a source of frustration, requiring extensive customization, constant maintenance, and workarounds to meet basic legal industry requirements.
Purpose-Built Document Management Made the Difference
Firms using purpose-built legal document management systems don’t have to worry themselves about…
- Configuring complex permissions for client-matter security
- Building custom metadata schemas from scratch
- Maintaining costly IT infrastructure and updates
- Training staff on unintuitive folder structures
- Searching through poorly organized document libraries
- Losing documents in nested folders and sub-sites
- Managing version control manually
- Ensuring compliance with legal industry regulations
- Integrating with legal-specific software through expensive custom development
When Efficiency Matters, Generic Tools Fall Short
No law firm can afford inefficiency. But there’s a striking difference between firms struggling with general-purpose platforms and those using legal-specific document management.
Firms that have made the switch to purpose-built solutions already have a reliable, secure way to create, edit, store, locate, and collaborate on documents—all with the legal-specific features they need built right in.
It’s Time to Move Beyond General Solutions—and There’s a Better Option
NetDocuments is the gold standard of cloud-based document management systems purpose-built for legal professionals and offers unparalleled security, legal-specific features, and intuitive workflows that law firms love.
NetDocuments Offers Benefits that can Transform a Firm
With NetDocuments, most of the pain-points people had with SharePoint are gone forever:
Legal-Specific Features Built In
- Client-matter workspace organization automatically configured
- Legal holds and matter-centric security out of the box
- Conflict checking and ethical walls native to the platform
- Legal-specific metadata and document profiling pre-configured
Superior Search and Organization
- AI-powered predictive filing that learns your organization’s patterns
- Lightning-fast search across all documents, emails, and metadata
- Automatic document profiling that captures key information
- No more lost documents in confusing folder hierarchies
True Cloud-Native Architecture
- Built for the cloud from day one, not retrofitted
- Consistent performance regardless of document volume
- Automatic updates with no downtime or IT intervention required
- Seamless scalability as your firm grows
Simplified IT Management
- No servers to maintain or upgrade
- No complex SharePoint farm administration
- No custom code to break with each Microsoft update
- Predictable subscription pricing with no hidden infrastructure costs
Native Legal Integrations
- Deep integration with practice management systems like Clio, PracticePanther, and more
- Works seamlessly with iManage, Worldox migration tools, and other legal platforms
- Direct email filing from Outlook with matter-centric organization
- Integration with e-discovery and litigation support tools
Enhanced Security and Compliance
- Purpose-built for legal industry security requirements
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and industry-specific compliance certifications
- Data residency options for international requirements
- Advanced audit trails designed for legal accountability
Mobile Excellence
- Purpose-built mobile apps for iOS and Android
- Full functionality on mobile devices, not just viewing
- Offline access to critical documents
- Same security and permissions on mobile as desktop
Better User Experience
- Intuitive interface designed specifically for legal workflows
- Minimal training required compared to SharePoint’s complexity
- Consistent experience across all devices and platforms
- Users can find what they need without IT support
And more…
Ready to Take Advantage of All the Benefits NetDocuments Has For Your Firm?
If you want a document management system that understands legal workflows without extensive customization…
If you want to eliminate the constant maintenance and updates SharePoint requires…
If you want your documents organized in a client-matter structure that makes sense for legal work…
If you want to stop paying for expensive SharePoint consultants to build basic legal features…
If you want native integration with legal software without custom development…
If you want search functionality that actually finds documents quickly and accurately…
If you want to reduce IT overhead and infrastructure costs…
If you want a system designed specifically for legal professionals, not adapted from a general platform…
If you want reliable, secure mobile access that works as well as your desktop experience…
If you want to change now before frustration with SharePoint forces an emergency migration…
If you want to eliminate workflow bottlenecks caused by SharePoint’s complexity…
If you want standardized organization across all matters and practice areas…
If you want a document management system that enhances productivity instead of hindering it…
Not convinced? Let’s do a feature-by-feature comparison…
Document Organization
SharePoint:
- Generic folder structures requiring extensive customization
- Complex sub-sites and document libraries that confuse users
- No native client-matter organization
- Documents easily lost in nested hierarchies
NetDocuments:
- Purpose-built workspace structure for legal matters
- Client-matter organization native to the platform
- AI-powered predictive filing
- Intuitive organization that users adopt immediately
Search Capabilities
SharePoint:
- Basic search that often misses documents
- Requires specific knowledge of folder locations
- Limited metadata search capabilities
- Search results often incomplete or outdated
NetDocuments:
- Powerful, Google-like search across all content
- AI-enhanced search that understands legal terminology
- Comprehensive metadata and full-text search
- Instant results with relevance ranking
Security and Permissions
SharePoint:
- Complex permission inheritance models
- Difficult to implement ethical walls
- Requires extensive configuration for client-matter security
- Easy to misconfigure, creating security risks
NetDocuments:
- Legal-specific security models built in
- Simple client-matter security configuration
- Ethical walls and conflict checking native
- Intuitive permissions that prevent accidental exposure
Integration with Legal Software
SharePoint:
- Requires expensive custom development for legal integrations
- Limited native integration with practice management systems
- Custom code breaks with Microsoft updates
- Ongoing development costs for maintenance
NetDocuments:
- Native integrations with major legal practice management systems
- Pre-built connectors for legal-specific software
- Integrations maintained by NetDocuments
- No custom development required
Email Management
SharePoint:
- Manual process to save emails as documents
- No native email filing from Outlook
- Difficult to associate emails with matters
- Poor email search capabilities
NetDocuments:
- Direct email filing from Outlook to client matters
- Automatic email threading and organization
- Comprehensive email search integrated with documents
- Email treated as first-class content alongside documents
Mobile Access
SharePoint:
- Limited mobile functionality—mostly viewing only
- Clunky mobile experience
- Requires VPN for secure access
- Different experience on mobile vs. desktop
NetDocuments:
- Purpose-built mobile apps for full functionality
- Edit, collaborate, and manage documents on mobile
- No VPN required—built-in security
- Consistent experience across all devices
Version Control
SharePoint:
- Basic versioning requires manual enablement
- Version history can be difficult to navigate
- Check-in/check-out process confusing for users
- Easy to create duplicate versions
NetDocuments:
- Automatic version control for all documents
- Clear version history with visual comparison
- Intuitive check-in/check-out workflow
- Single source of truth always maintained
Compliance and Audit Trails
SharePoint:
- Limited audit capabilities without additional tools
- Compliance features require extensive configuration
- Difficult to generate reports for compliance requirements
- Audit logs not designed for legal industry needs
NetDocuments:
- Comprehensive audit trails designed for legal requirements
- Built-in compliance reporting
- Legal hold capabilities native to the platform
- Detailed activity tracking for all user actions
IT Management and Maintenance
SharePoint:
- Requires dedicated IT staff or consultants
- Complex updates and patch management
- Server infrastructure to maintain (on-premise)
- SharePoint Online still requires significant administration
- Custom solutions break with updates
NetDocuments:
- Minimal IT administration required
- Automatic updates with no downtime
- No infrastructure to maintain
- Predictable subscription costs
- Purpose-built features reduce customization needs
User Training and Adoption
SharePoint:
- Steep learning curve for users
- Extensive training required
- Users frequently frustrated and confused
- Low adoption without ongoing support
NetDocuments:
- Intuitive interface designed for legal professionals
- Minimal training required
- High user adoption rates
- Users become productive quickly
Total Cost of Ownership
SharePoint:
- License costs seem low initially
- Hidden costs in IT staff, consultants, and infrastructure
- Ongoing customization and maintenance expenses
- Lost productivity due to complexity
- Custom development costs for legal-specific features
NetDocuments:
- Transparent subscription pricing
- Minimal IT overhead
- Legal-specific features included
- High productivity from day one
- Predictable, manageable costs
Conclusion
In the 2000s, firms moved from on-premise document management to cloud-based solutions. You never ran into a firm converting from NetDocuments back to SharePoint. All new firms starting today are choosing purpose-built legal document management.
To this day, there are still firms struggling with SharePoint, trying to make a general collaboration platform work for specialized legal needs—but they are increasingly in the minority.
SharePoint = A general tool adapted for legal
NetDocuments = Purpose-built for legal professionals
The choice is clear.
Understand What Moving from SharePoint to NetDocuments Means For Your Firm
Fill out the form below to learn everything you need about moving from SharePoint to NetDocuments to give your law firm a competitive advantage.
What you’ll discover:
- How to assess your current SharePoint environment and identify pain points
- The migration process from SharePoint to NetDocuments
- How to maintain business continuity during the transition
- Real cost comparisons between SharePoint and NetDocuments
- How firms like yours have transformed their document management
- The timeline and resources needed for a successful migration
If You Want Personalized Help for Your Firm…
The first best step is to set up a call.
Schedule a free, no-obligation, no-pressure conversation to help us learn more about your firm and see if there’s a way we can help you transition from SharePoint to a document management system that’s truly built for legal professionals.
Ready to stop adapting a general platform for legal work and start using a system designed specifically for law firms? Let’s talk about how NetDocuments can transform your practice.