Client files that never leave your desk
Privilege does not survive a careless upload. Most online PDF tools take a copy of the document, process it on their servers and promise to delete it later — which is a promise about their conduct, not a limit on their access. These tools never receive the file at all, so there is nothing to promise.
ABA Model Rule 1.6(c) and the duty of technology competence
You must make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorised disclosure of client information, and Comment [8] extends competence to the benefits and risks of the technology you use. Sending a privileged exhibit through a third-party server is a decision you have to be able to defend. Not sending it is easier to defend.
The everyday jobs
Where we can’t help
- We are not a document management system and do not pretend to be one — there is no matter numbering, no conflicts check, no retention schedule.
- We cannot certify a redaction as legally sufficient. The tool removes the content; reviewing the result is still your job.
- Court-specific formatting rules vary by jurisdiction and we do not encode them.
Your toolkit
The 12 tools this work actually reaches for, out of 80.
Open any tool and watch the Network tab. Nothing uploads — that is the whole argument.
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