Collect Documents and Data with Pipe|File
You want to make it easy and secure to exchange electronic documents and information with clients. There are many ways to do this, including using online document storage services, SaaS based practice management portals, and document management systems. However, if you are not using any of these or are looking for something that is simple and purpose built, Pipe|File might be of interest to you.
Gathering Client Information
In the article “Better Ways to Gather Information Clients (Part 2)” a variety of tools are considered. Looking at the big picture, when you request information from clients, including documents and specific data, you should have a system in place that meets these goals:
- Make it easy for you and the client to send and receive documents and information.
- Make the gathering of documents a priority for clients by creating a task, with deadlines.
- You, your team, and the client should get confirmation that the task is complete to the satisfaction of all involved.
- Transfer of documents and information should be secure at rest and in transit.
- Documents would be stored in the correct file or folder with little to no effort to move them to the correct storage location.
- Information such as party names, contact details, other data would be collected in a way that makes it easy to store and manipulate it to be used in reports, to fill out forms, and exported.
Lawyers should first look at the tools they already have in place. If your firm uses a browser-based law practice management application, document management system, or client relationship management system investigate the options available to you for client portals, questionnaires, fillable intake forms, and document uploads.
If your firm stores documents in Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint, ShareFile, Dropbox, Box, Google Workspaces, or another online storage repository check to see if it is possible for clients to upload directly into these sites.
If you have a Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace subscription you have survey tools that allow you to capture data that exports to a spreadsheet. For instance, the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Pro includes the conversion of PDF forms to web-based forms. Investigate all the tools you have at your disposal.
Pipe|File
If your firm has reviewed all the options already available but has found that the applications are missing essential features and functionality you may consider a third party tool. One tool that is specifically designed to help professionals gather documents and data is Pipe|File.
Pipe|File’s tagline is “Pipefile helps you collect document faster by providing your clients with seamless, secure upload forms”. To that end the tool has the following features:
Checklists and Document Review Workflows
You can send a client a file request checklist. You can specify which documents you need from the client. The checklist includes a workflow that shows deadline dates and allows the attorney to accept or reject submissions. For instance, if a client sends the wrong document, the attorney can reject a submission and provide clarification as to what is needed. If the client has missed a deadline the attorney can send a reminder.
Reminders
If you add a due date, Pipe|File will automatically remind the client via email or SMS to send the file.
Templates
Do you need the same documents from each new client? In Pipe|File you do not have to make a new request for each new client. Instead, you can create reusable templates. Once you enter the recipients you can adjust as needed without altering the template.
Fillable Forms and eSignatures
If you have a fillable PDF form you can upload it to Pipe|File and mark the areas that need to be filled so that the recipient receives a mobile and web friendly form instead of a PDF. They simply fill in the information and the PDF is filled. Pipe|File also includes eSignatures. This functionality could save you money by letting you cut back on Acrobat Pro licenses and using alternatives, or save licenses with tools like DocuSign.
Integrations
You can connect Pipe|File to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, or MS 365 cloud storage to make it easy to store the collected documents with the rest of the client files. There is also a Zapier integration so you can trigger automations with other tools like Microsoft Teams, Docketwise, Clio Grow, Practice Panther, PandaDocs, Outlook and hundreds of other applications. Check out some Zapier templates to see “recipes” for automations to move information seamlessly from one application to another.
Pipe|File has a searchable knowledgebase to get helpful information on setting up your account and FAQ. There are many more advanced features, including bulk sends, translations, notification sequences, branding, lead generation, and more.
Pricing for Pipe|File starts at $15 per user per month for the Standard version. The Professional version at $30 per user per month adds unlimited storage, forms and esignatures, bulk send and Zapier integration. If the Pro version helps you to reduce administrative work or cancel another subscription it could be cost effective. Each plan has a 14-day free trial, and they support custom PGP (encryption) key management is well secured and accessible only to you.
Conclusion
No matter what tool you use, make sure that you are leveraging technology to make it easy and efficient to collect the information you need from clients. You may already have the tools in your tech stack to make this task more secure and streamlined.