Confidential documents for law firms

You are sending a case file to a client, a bundle to other counsel or a report to an expert. The question is not only whether the archive fits in an email. It is who can open the material, how long it stays available, and what you can show after the handover. For a law firm, sending confidential files starts with access control, not with the promise of a spectacular file size.

Transferify keeps the one-off delivery apart from the place where you run the matter. You make a link for a bounded set of documents, and the client opens it without an account. When the material is privileged or holds sensitive data, password protection is available from Basic and Zero-Knowledge encryption on the Premium plan. The free plan does not include either of these controls, and it should never be presented as if it did.

Confidentiality starts before you copy the link

A link can be forwarded, an email thread can hold more recipients than you noticed, and a password in the same message as the link separates very little. Before sending, settle who should receive the package, how long it is needed, and over which channel you will share the access details.

1. Remove duplicates, internal notes and versions that are not part of the handover.
2. Name the archive after the matter and its stage, without needlessly sensitive details in the file name.
3. Turn on a password from Basic and share it on a different channel from the one that carries the link.
4. For material that has to be kept apart from the transfer service, turn on Premium's Zero-Knowledge encryption and keep the link in the matter file.
5. Record the recipient, the date, the purpose and the access period in the firm's own system.

This routine does not certify compliance on its own and does not replace the firm's security policy. It does give you a more controlled handover point than an attachment passed through several inboxes. The guide on how to send files securely sets out the same trade-off in more detail, and the guide on how to send documents covers PDFs, contracts and scans.

Password and Zero-Knowledge for sensitive files

The password controls opening the link. It is useful when access should depend on something shared separately, not only on holding the URL. Do not write it in the same email, and do not reuse a password that is in use for the firm's accounts.

Zero-Knowledge encryption, on the Premium plan, answers a different question: can the transfer service read the documents? With this option, Transferify cannot decrypt the contents. The benefit is confidentiality of the contents from the provider; the consequence is that a lost link cannot be rebuilt for you. Keep it in the matter's controlled system and check the recipient before sending. A Zero-Knowledge transfer is shared as a link you send yourself, never emailed by Transferify, because emailing it to recipients needs a key on our side.

A download alert does not identify a person

Download alerts also start on Basic. They tell you whether and when a download started, never who started it. That difference matters: an alert confirms a technical event, not the legal identity of the person who used the link, and it does not replace a signed acknowledgement of receipt.

If you need proof of identity, a signature, acceptance of terms or a formal chain of evidence, use the right legal tool. Transferify helps you see that the package was collected and step in when the deadline gets close, without inventing a certainty the product does not have.

Hosted for later access, peer-to-peer for a live handover

The hosted mode is practical when the client downloads later. You upload the files, send the link and do not have to stay online. On the free plan the number of transfers is not capped, but live transfers share one storage allowance. It includes 50 downloads in a calendar month, and the expiry is 1–3 days. Any transfer can be deleted by hand before its date, on every plan.

Instant peer-to-peer is free up to 5 GB on the free plan, and any paid plan unlocks any size. It does need both browsers to stay connected until the end. That can work for an arranged handover to an expert or to other counsel, but it is not the right choice for a client who opens the link when they have time.

Extending the expiry of a sent transfer starts on Plus. The guide on how long a transfer link lasts explains what can end a link early. Premium adds download statistics, your logo and colours on every delivery and a branded link address, and it can place a legal hold on a transfer set to never expire: its files are kept until you release the hold, and deleting the transfer is blocked while it is held. Check the current plans, because a longer validity does not turn a transfer into a permanent archive.

When the client portal or the document system wins

For recurring work on the same matter, with roles, versions, comments, deadlines and a formal log, a document management system or a legal portal is the right choice. Transferify should not become the firm's improvised electronic file. Use it for clear handovers: the set of documents requested today, the report going to the expert, or the copy the client should download without an account.

Confidentiality does not come from the name of the tool but from technical control combined with procedure. The password starts on Basic; Zero-Knowledge encryption is available on the Premium plan. Share access separately and keep the records in the firm's system. That way the link stays a controlled delivery, not a shortcut that moves the risk into an inbox.