Managed IT & Cybersecurity
Built for Law Firms
Your clients trust you with their most sensitive information. Privileged communications, case strategies, financial records, personal data. If your IT infrastructure cannot protect that trust, your firm is one breach away from malpractice exposure, bar complaints, and irreversible reputational damage.
Petronella Technology Group, Inc. has protected 2,500+ organizations since 2002. BBB A+ accredited since 2003. Zero breaches among clients following our security program.
Why Law Firms Choose Petronella Technology Group, Inc.
Legal technology is not generic IT. Your firm needs a technology partner who understands attorney-client privilege, ethical obligations, court filing deadlines, and the regulatory landscape unique to the legal profession.
Privilege Protection
Attorney-client privilege is the cornerstone of legal practice. A single data breach can waive privilege on thousands of communications. Our 39+ security controls create an impenetrable shield around your confidential client data, work product, and case files.
E-Discovery Ready
Modern litigation demands robust e-discovery infrastructure. We design and manage the storage, indexing, and retrieval systems your firm needs to handle electronically stored information efficiently, defensibly, and within court-mandated timelines.
Attorney Mobility
Your attorneys work from courtrooms, client offices, airports, and home. We deliver secure remote access to case files, document management systems, and practice management software so your team stays productive from anywhere, on any device.
Zero Downtime Tolerance
A missed filing deadline because your systems went down is not just an inconvenience. It is potential malpractice. Our proactive monitoring, redundant infrastructure, and rapid-response support keep your firm operating 24/7/365 without interruption.
Why Law Firms Are Prime Cybercrime Targets
Law firms sit at the intersection of every high-value data category attackers covet. You hold financial records, trade secrets, merger details, intellectual property, medical records, personally identifiable information, and privileged communications. A single mid-sized law firm can hold more valuable data than the Fortune 500 companies it represents. Hackers know this. And they are specifically targeting legal practices with increasingly sophisticated attacks.
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The American Bar Association's annual TechReport consistently reveals that a significant percentage of law firms have experienced some form of security breach. Ransomware attacks against legal practices have surged, with attackers specifically targeting firms because they know the pressure of court deadlines makes firms more likely to pay ransoms quickly. Business email compromise schemes impersonate partners and managing attorneys to redirect trust account wire transfers, sometimes stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single attack.
Beyond the direct financial losses, a cybersecurity breach at a law firm triggers a cascade of devastating consequences. Ethical obligations under ABA Model Rules 1.1 and 1.6 require lawyers to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access to client information. A breach may constitute a violation of these rules, triggering bar complaints and disciplinary proceedings. Clients whose data was compromised may file malpractice claims. The firm's reputation, built over decades of trust, can be destroyed in a single news cycle.
At Petronella Technology Group, Inc., we understand these stakes intimately. Led by Craig Petronella, a Licensed Digital Forensic Examiner with over 25 years of cybersecurity experience, our team has protected legal practices from solo practitioners to multi-office firms. We do not just manage your IT. We build a defense-in-depth security program with 39+ layered controls that keeps privileged data privileged, keeps your network running, and keeps your firm out of the headlines.
Document Management Security
We secure your document management systems, whether you use iManage, NetDocuments, Worldox, or another platform, with encryption at rest and in transit, granular access controls, comprehensive audit logging, and automated backup and disaster recovery to ensure no document is ever lost or exposed.
Encrypted Communications
Every email, message, and file transfer between your attorneys and clients must be protected. We implement end-to-end email encryption, secure client portals, encrypted file sharing, and secure video conferencing so that privileged communications remain confidential across every channel.
Practice Management Integration
Your practice management software is the operational nerve center of your firm. We ensure Clio, PracticePanther, MyCase, or your platform of choice integrates seamlessly with your infrastructure, runs reliably, and is backed by secure cloud hosting and proactive monitoring.
E-Discovery Infrastructure
We design and manage the technical infrastructure that supports your e-discovery workflows, including large-scale data collection, processing, review platform hosting, and production. Our systems maintain defensible chain-of-custody documentation and comply with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requirements.
Comprehensive IT Services for Law Firms
Every law firm has unique technology requirements shaped by its practice areas, size, and client expectations. We tailor our managed IT and cybersecurity services to fit your firm precisely, whether you are a three-attorney boutique or a regional firm with multiple offices.
24/7 Managed IT Support
Court deadlines do not wait for business hours. Our helpdesk is available around the clock so your attorneys and staff can resolve technical issues immediately, whether it is a printer failure before a morning filing, a VPN connection problem at a client meeting, or a software crash during a deposition review. We provide unlimited remote support, on-site assistance, and proactive monitoring so issues are resolved before they impact your billable hours.
Advanced Threat Protection
Standard antivirus is woefully insufficient against the sophisticated threats targeting law firms today. We deploy enterprise-grade endpoint detection and response (EDR/XDR), next-generation firewalls, advanced email security with anti-phishing AI, DNS-layer protection, and 24/7 security operations center monitoring. Our layered defense architecture with 39+ controls ensures that even if one layer is bypassed, multiple additional barriers stand between attackers and your client data.
Secure Cloud & Hosting
Whether you are migrating to the cloud, maintaining on-premises infrastructure, or operating in a hybrid environment, our managed hosting solutions provide the performance, security, and reliability your firm demands. We manage Microsoft 365 environments, configure SharePoint for legal workflows, deploy secure cloud storage with ethical wall capabilities, and ensure every hosted system meets your compliance obligations with full audit trails.
Backup & Disaster Recovery
Losing case files, client correspondence, or billing records could be catastrophic for your practice. We implement encrypted, geographically redundant backup systems with rapid recovery capabilities. In the event of ransomware, hardware failure, or natural disaster, we can restore your entire environment to operational status in hours, not days, ensuring you never miss a court deadline or lose irreplaceable work product.
Security Awareness Training
Your staff is both your greatest asset and your biggest vulnerability. Over 90% of successful cyberattacks begin with a phishing email. We provide customized security awareness training for attorneys, paralegals, and administrative staff, including realistic phishing simulations, social engineering testing, and ongoing education specifically tailored to the threats law firms face. Every team member becomes a human firewall.
Compliance & Ethical Obligations
ABA Model Rules, state bar requirements, HIPAA obligations for firms handling medical records, SEC regulations for securities practices, and GLBA requirements for financial data. The compliance landscape for law firms is complex and constantly evolving. We help your firm navigate these overlapping obligations, implement the required technical safeguards, develop compliant policies and procedures, and maintain audit-ready documentation.
How We Onboard Your Law Firm
Transitioning your IT support should never disrupt your practice. Our structured onboarding process is designed for zero downtime, zero data loss, and immediate improvements from day one.
Security & IT Assessment
We begin with a thorough assessment of your existing IT environment, security posture, software ecosystem, workflows, and pain points. We interview partners, associates, paralegals, and staff to understand how technology helps or hinders their work. We evaluate your document management system, practice management platform, email security, backup systems, and compliance status. The result is a detailed report with prioritized recommendations.
Strategic Technology Plan
Based on our findings, we develop a customized technology roadmap for your firm. This includes immediate security remediations, infrastructure upgrades, software optimizations, compliance initiatives, and long-term strategic investments. We present clear timelines, budgets, and expected outcomes so your managing partners can make informed decisions about the firm's technology future.
Seamless Migration
We execute the transition with surgical precision, typically during off-hours and weekends to minimize disruption. All data is migrated with full integrity verification. Security controls are deployed, monitoring agents are installed, backup systems are activated, and your staff receives hands-on training. By Monday morning, your firm is operating on a more secure, more reliable, and more efficient platform.
Ongoing Partnership
Technology management is not a project with an end date. It is an ongoing partnership. We provide continuous monitoring, proactive maintenance, regular security reviews, quarterly business reviews with your managing partners, technology budgeting assistance, and strategic planning to ensure your firm's IT always supports your growth and never becomes a liability.
Meeting Your Ethical & Regulatory Obligations
The legal profession imposes unique technology obligations that generic IT providers simply do not understand. Failing to meet these obligations exposes your firm to disciplinary action, malpractice liability, and loss of client trust.
ABA Model Rules 1.1 & 1.6
The duty of competence now explicitly includes an obligation to stay informed about the benefits and risks of technology relevant to your practice. Rule 1.6 requires reasonable efforts to prevent inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of client information. We implement the technical and administrative safeguards that satisfy these obligations, document your compliance efforts, and help you demonstrate reasonable care in the event of an incident or inquiry.
State Bar Requirements
Many state bars have adopted ethics opinions requiring specific cybersecurity measures for law firms. Some mandate encrypted communications, secure file storage, incident response plans, and regular security assessments. Our law firm cybersecurity program is designed to meet the most stringent state bar requirements nationwide, so your firm is covered regardless of jurisdiction.
HIPAA for Healthcare Litigation
If your firm handles medical malpractice, personal injury, workers' compensation, or any practice area involving protected health information, you may be considered a business associate under HIPAA. This triggers specific security requirements including encryption, access controls, audit logging, and annual security risk assessments. We ensure your firm meets every applicable HIPAA obligation.
SOX & SEC Compliance
Securities litigation, corporate governance, and M&A practices handle information subject to Sarbanes-Oxley and SEC cybersecurity disclosure requirements. We implement the information barriers, access controls, data loss prevention systems, and audit trails that ensure your firm's handling of material non-public information meets the strictest regulatory standards.
ISO 27001 & SOC 2
Enterprise clients and government agencies increasingly require their outside counsel to demonstrate formal security certifications. We help your firm achieve and maintain ISO 27001 certification or SOC 2 compliance, which differentiates your firm in competitive pitches and satisfies the most demanding client security questionnaires and outside counsel guidelines.
Data Breach Notification Laws
All 50 states have data breach notification laws with varying requirements for timing, content, and recipients of breach notifications. When your firm holds data for clients across multiple states, the compliance matrix becomes complex. We help you develop incident response plans that account for multi-state notification requirements and ensure you meet every deadline if a breach occurs.
Why Law Firms Trust Petronella Technology Group, Inc.
Your IT provider should understand the legal profession as well as they understand technology. Here is what makes Petronella the right choice for your firm.
25+ Years Protecting Sensitive Data
Founded in 2002 by Craig Petronella, a Licensed Digital Forensic Examiner and CMMC Certified Registered Practitioner, our firm has spent over two decades protecting organizations that handle the most sensitive data imaginable. We understand the unique intersection of technology, security, and legal ethics that defines law firm IT management. Our experience across 2,500+ client engagements means we have encountered and resolved virtually every technical challenge a legal practice can face.
Zero Breaches Track Record
Among all clients who follow our comprehensive security program, we maintain a verified record of zero breaches. For a law firm, where a single breach can waive privilege, trigger malpractice claims, and destroy decades of reputation, this track record is not just impressive. It is essential. Our systematic, defense-in-depth approach layers 39+ security controls to ensure your client data remains secure against even the most sophisticated attacks.
Predictable IT Budgeting
Law firm partners need predictable overhead costs to manage profitability. Our managed IT services are delivered on a flat-rate monthly model with no surprise invoices. Everything from helpdesk support and security monitoring to backup management and vendor coordination is included. You know exactly what IT will cost each month, making it easy to budget and plan. Think of us as your in-house IT department at a fraction of the cost of hiring staff.
Full-Spectrum Cybersecurity
Unlike generic IT shops that bolt on basic security as an afterthought, Petronella is a cybersecurity-first firm. Our vCISO, penetration testing, digital forensics, managed security (MSSP/XDR), vulnerability management, and incident response capabilities are all available in-house. When your firm needs a security risk assessment, a forensic investigation, or an incident response team, you do not have to call a separate vendor. You call the same team that already knows your environment inside and out.
Generic IT Provider vs. Petronella Legal IT
Not every IT company understands the unique demands of legal practice. Here is how a legal-focused IT partner compares to a generic provider.
| Capability | Generic IT Provider | Petronella Legal IT |
|---|---|---|
| Privilege & Confidentiality | Basic security with no understanding of attorney-client privilege | Ethical walls, privilege-aware access controls, and encrypted communications designed for legal practice |
| Document Management | General file storage solutions not designed for legal workflows | Deep expertise with iManage, NetDocuments, Worldox, and legal-specific DMS configurations |
| Compliance Expertise | Limited to generic HIPAA or PCI compliance | ABA Model Rules, state bar ethics opinions, HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 |
| E-Discovery Support | No e-discovery knowledge or capabilities | Full e-discovery infrastructure, chain-of-custody, and FRCP-compliant data management |
| Security Depth | Basic antivirus and firewall, reactive support model | 39+ layered security controls, 24/7 SOC monitoring, proactive threat hunting |
| Forensic Capability | Must outsource to unknown third party | In-house Licensed Digital Forensic Examiner with court-admissible investigation capabilities |
Cybersecurity Challenges Unique to Law Firms
Law firms face a threat landscape unlike any other industry. Understanding these specific challenges is the first step toward defending against them.
Business Email Compromise
BEC attacks against law firms are epidemic. Attackers impersonate partners to redirect wire transfers from trust accounts, sometimes stealing six or seven figures in a single incident. The FBI reports that BEC attacks have resulted in over $50 billion in global losses. Law firms are prime targets because of the volume and value of wire transfers they handle, particularly in real estate closings and corporate transactions.
We combat BEC with advanced email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), AI-powered impersonation detection, multi-factor authentication on all accounts, and specific training for staff who handle financial transactions.
Ransomware Targeting
Ransomware gangs specifically target law firms because they know the pressure of court deadlines and the sensitivity of client data makes firms more likely to pay quickly. Modern ransomware attacks also involve data exfiltration, meaning the attackers steal your client files before encrypting them and threaten to publish the data if you do not pay. For a law firm, this double-extortion tactic is existential.
Our multi-layered defense includes endpoint protection, network segmentation, immutable backups, and incident response planning specifically designed to neutralize ransomware threats before they can impact your practice.
Insider Threats & Lateral Departures
When attorneys leave your firm, they may intentionally or inadvertently take client files, work product, or proprietary firm data with them. Departing partner scenarios create complex data governance challenges. Additionally, disgruntled employees, compromised credentials, and overly permissive access controls create insider threat risks that many firms fail to address until after the damage is done.
We implement role-based access controls, data loss prevention systems, comprehensive audit logging, and offboarding procedures that protect your firm's data during personnel transitions while respecting the departing attorney's legitimate right to client files under applicable ethical rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions law firms ask about managed IT and cybersecurity services.
What makes law firm IT different from regular business IT?
Law firms operate under ethical obligations that other businesses simply do not have. Attorney-client privilege, conflicts of interest requiring ethical walls, court-mandated deadlines that make downtime potentially malpractice, state bar cybersecurity requirements, e-discovery obligations, trust account security, and the sheer sensitivity and volume of confidential data all create unique technology requirements. A generic IT provider does not understand these nuances. We do, because we have been serving legal practices since 2002.
Do you support our document management system?
Yes. We have extensive experience supporting all major legal document management systems including iManage, NetDocuments, Worldox, and Microsoft SharePoint configured for legal workflows. We handle installation, configuration, integration with your practice management software, security hardening, user training, and ongoing support. We also help firms evaluate and migrate between DMS platforms when the business case warrants a change.
How do you handle ethical walls and conflicts of interest?
When conflicts of interest require information barriers within your firm, we implement technical ethical walls that restrict specific attorneys and staff from accessing designated client matters across all systems, including your DMS, email, practice management software, and file shares. These restrictions are enforced at the infrastructure level with comprehensive audit logging so you can demonstrate compliance with your ethical obligations. We configure these walls to be effective but minimally disruptive to the firm's daily operations.
Can your team help with our e-discovery needs?
Yes. We provide the technical infrastructure that supports your e-discovery workflows. This includes designing and managing the storage and network systems for large-scale data collections, ensuring defensible preservation practices with proper chain-of-custody documentation, hosting and supporting e-discovery review platforms, managing data processing and conversion, handling production formatting, and maintaining the security of electronically stored information throughout the litigation hold and discovery process. We work alongside your e-discovery vendors and litigation support teams to ensure the technical foundation is solid.
What happens if our firm experiences a data breach?
Our incident response protocol is specifically designed for law firms and accounts for the unique obligations your firm faces during a breach. We immediately activate containment procedures to stop the attack and prevent further data loss. Our in-house Licensed Digital Forensic Examiner leads the investigation to determine scope, timeline, and affected data. We coordinate with your firm's leadership to manage client notification obligations, bar reporting requirements, and multi-state breach notification laws. We preserve forensic evidence in a court-admissible manner and lead the post-incident remediation to prevent recurrence. Having a trusted IT partner already embedded in your environment dramatically reduces response time and limits damage.
How do you ensure our attorneys can work securely from anywhere?
Modern attorneys need to access case files, draft documents, communicate with clients, and file with courts from anywhere. We deploy secure remote access solutions including encrypted VPN connections, zero-trust network architecture, multi-factor authentication, mobile device management for smartphones and tablets, and cloud-based productivity tools with enterprise-grade security. Whether your attorney is in a courtroom, at a client site, working from home, or traveling, they have fast, reliable, and secure access to everything they need while your firm maintains full control and visibility over its data.
How much does managed IT for a law firm cost?
Our managed IT services are priced on a predictable per-user, per-month model. The exact cost depends on the number of users, your security requirements, the complexity of your environment, and the specific services included. However, most law firms find that our managed IT services cost significantly less than hiring even one full-time IT employee, while delivering far more expertise, availability, and capability. Contact us at 919-348-4912 for a customized quote based on your firm's specific needs.
Your Clients Trust You. Can You Trust Your IT?
Every privileged communication your firm sends, every case file your attorneys access, every wire transfer your staff processes is only as secure as the technology infrastructure protecting it. If your current IT provider cannot explain how they protect attorney-client privilege, it is time for a change.
Join the 2,500+ organizations that trust Petronella Technology Group, Inc. for their managed IT and cybersecurity. Schedule a free security assessment and discover how we can make your firm more productive, more secure, and more compliant.
Petronella Technology Group, Inc. — 5540 Centerview Dr. Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27606 — [email protected]