https://www.sikich.com

Is Cloud Storage Safe for Law Firms?

Dustin Miller

Oct 31 2025

3 min read

You’re seeing cloud storage everywhere in legal work, from secure document portals, remote collaboration, and eDiscovery platforms. It promises flexibility, scalability, and cost savings. But you have good reason to ask: Is cloud storage really safe for your law firm’s sensitive client data?

At Sikich, we help firms upgrade to cloud computing to make sure they’re safe and can run their best. Below, you’ll find what you need to understand: both the risks and the best practices that let you leverage the cloud without compromising confidentiality or compliance.

Risks When Using the Cloud

Misconfigured Access Controls & Poor Permissions
If roles and permissions aren’t tightly defined, people may see more than they should. Exposed data, credentials, or privileges can lead to serious breaches. Many firms moving to cloud services underestimate how critical “least privilege access” is.
Shared Responsibility Misunderstood
Cloud providers often secure infrastructure, but you’re responsible for configuring services, encrypting data, identity management, backups, and everything above the infrastructure layer. It’s easy to presume the vendor handles everything, which can leave gaps. Law firms can “achieve cloud compliance” by understanding this shared responsibility model.
Compliance & Data Residency
Laws like GDPR, state privacy laws, and legal ethics rules require you to protect client data, often including where and how data is stored. Any cloud strategy must account for legal/regulatory mandates in your jurisdictions.
Data Availability & Backup Failures
Even if stored securely, data must be accessible and restorable. If backups aren’t properly configured (or are part of the same compromised environment), you can still suffer major loss during outages or attacks.
Vendor Risk & Third-Party Integrations
When you use multiple SaaS providers or third-party tools, each one is another potential point of failure. If one vendor’s platform is compromised, it may affect your firm if connections, APIs, or data integrations are weak.

Sikich: Empowering Firms With Cloud

You can harness the cloud’s benefits, remote access, document collaboration, and lower infrastructure costs while keeping your firm secure. Here are the best practices and how Sikich supports you in implementing them:

Start with a Cloud Readiness Assessment. We’ll review your current infrastructure, compliance constraints, and operational needs to decide the best cloud path.
Define Permissions & Access Controls. Implement role-based permissions, least privilege, identity verification, and strong multi-factor authentication so only the right people have access.
Encrypt Data at Rest & in Transit. Use strong encryption both where data is stored and when it’s moving over networks.
Ensure Vendor Contracts & Tools are Secure. Vet third-party tools for security certifications, SLAs, and transparency in handling data.
Build Robust Disaster Recovery & Backup Plans. Maintain backups in isolated locations, test restores and encrypt backups so they can’t be compromised.

Start Using the Cloud Safely

You can only trust the cloud if you adopt it with intention. When you follow best practices and work with a partner you trust, cloud storage becomes a tool for efficiency, security, and growth, and not a major risk factor for your law firm.

How safe is your cloud configuration?

Contact Sikich to talk one-on-one about your cloud security posture. If you want to review your cloud strategy or see if your current setup meets the mark, reach out to Sikich today: our team is ready to help you secure your sensitive data, satisfy compliance, and optimize your cloud for legal workflows.

This publication contains general information only and Sikich is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or any other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should you use it as a basis for any decision, action or omission that may affect you or your business. Before making any decision, taking any action or omitting an action that may affect you or your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. In addition, this publication may contain certain content generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) language model. You acknowledge that Sikich shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by you or any person who relies on this publication.

About the Author

Dustin Miller

Dustin Miller is a principal, who supports the managed services practice in the role of virtual chief information officer (vCIO). Dustin helps business owners and executives understand their current IT assets, create a vision and multi-year roadmap for IT that integrates with business objectives, and align specific technology initiatives within the annual budgeting process. He provides ongoing collaboration and serves as an executive-level technology team member that understands and can speak to both technology and business topics.