DP3 Insights
Practical analysis and guidance on the technology decisions that matter most to law firms and professional services organizations.
Clio vs MyCase vs PracticePanther: Where Trust Accounting Actually Sits
All three publish an entry price near $49 per user and all three say trust accounting is included, so the headline figure decides almost nothing. Read from the vendors’ own pricing pages on 7 October 2026: what each one actually includes at the entry tier, which reconciliation functions are held back for more money, the trust-balance alert one of them withholds from its cheapest plan, and the five questions to put to a demo.
Read Article →Trust Accounting in QuickBooks for Law Firms
QuickBooks has no client trust ledger object, so the structure has to be imposed. What the Illinois disciplinary commission’s handbook asks for in its own words, the account arrangement that produces a per-client sub-ledger as a report rather than a spreadsheet, why a three-way reconciliation catches what a two-way one cannot, the card-processing default that quietly takes fees from pooled client money, and the point at which a firm should stop using QuickBooks for this.
Read Article →The NY SHIELD Act and Your Law Firm’s IT
What General Business Law 899-bb says about reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards, read from the statute rather than a summary. Covers why properly encrypted data falls outside the definition of private information, why most firms meet the statute’s small-business standard and what that changes, the vendor-contract safeguard firms most often miss, and how enforcement runs through the Attorney General rather than private suits.
Read Article →ABA Data Security Obligations: Model Rule 1.6(c) and What It Means for Your IT
What the ABA Model Rules actually require of a law firm’s technology. Covers the technology-competence duty in Rule 1.1 Comment 8, the “reasonable efforts” standard in Rule 1.6(c) and the five factors that define it, Formal Opinions 477R and 483, and the vendor-supervision duty under Rule 5.3 — then maps each obligation to the controls that evidence it.
Read Article →Two Copilots, One Name: What Microsoft Commits To When Staff Use Copilot Without a License
A client asked for documentation from Microsoft confirming that what staff without a Copilot license type into Microsoft Copilot Chat stays private to the tenant and isn’t used to train the model. It exists — and the protection follows the work account, not the paid license. Includes the one carve-out counsel should know about, and what it means for an engagement letter.
Read Article →Password Managers for Law Firms and Professional Services: A 2026 Buyer’s Guide
A right-sized comparison of business password managers for 10–250 seat professional services firms on Microsoft 365. Covers pricing, Entra ID SSO/SCIM tier requirements, and independent certifications across 1Password, Bitwarden, Dashlane, Keeper, NordPass, and Proton Pass — plus the ABA compliance lens and a decision framework instead of a single “best” pick.
Read Article →Regaining Access to a Microsoft 365 Tenant When Nobody Has Global Administrator Access
What to do when no one can sign in as an administrator to your Microsoft 365 tenant. How to confirm whether any admin access remains, work with Microsoft or your CSP on assisted recovery, reach support when you’re fully locked out, and harden the tenant with break-glass accounts so it can’t happen again.
Read Article →When AI Hallucinates in Court: The $110K Oregon Winery Case
A $110,000 sanction for AI-fabricated citations in a federal court filing. What the Valley View Winery case means for law firms using generative AI — and a practical framework for AI governance.
Read Article →How a Phone Call Became a Malware Infection at a Law Firm
A real-world case study of a social engineering campaign targeting law firms. A vishing call, a OneDrive link, a disk image, and DLL sideloading — and the layered defenses that stop it.
Read Article →The True Cost of Building an In-House IT Team
What it actually costs to staff an internal IT function at a Chicago law firm. Market-rate salary data for 13 roles, benefits burden analysis, hiring costs by seniority level, turnover impact, and first-year total cost of employment.
Read Article →Moving from QuickBooks Desktop: What You Need to Know
QuickBooks Desktop 2024 is the last annual release and has no sunset date. What that means for your version, why moving can still make sense, your options, common pitfalls, and specific guidance for law firms with IOLTA accounts.
Read Article →QuickBooks in 2026: A Guide to Current Offerings
A practical comparison of QuickBooks Online, Enterprise, Desktop, and cloud-hosted Desktop. Covers pricing, features, limitations, trust accounting for law firms, and a decision framework for choosing the right product.
Read Article →The Small Business IT & Security Checklist: What You Actually Need (and What You Don’t)
A practical, right-sized IT and cybersecurity checklist for 20–500 person professional services firms. Covers operations, security, vendor options, and the 10 non-negotiable controls every business needs.
Read Article →Iranian Cyber Threats and the FBI’s Operation Winter Shield: What Your Organization Needs to Know
The FBI’s Operation Winter Shield outlines 10 actions every organization should take now. We distill 9 federal advisories on Iranian state-sponsored cyber threats into a practical defense guide for SMBs and law firms.
Read Article →On-Premises Virtualization: A Decision Guide for SMB Organizations in 2026
A vendor-neutral guide covering VMware/Broadcom, Proxmox VE, XCP-ng, Hyper-V, Azure Local, and Nutanix for 1–3 host SMB environments. Includes pricing, decision framework, migration guidance, and platform comparison.
Read Article →Planning a Migration from VMware/vCenter to Microsoft Hyper‑V
A high-level planning and FAQ guide for SMB IT decision-makers. Covers migration phases, methods (SCVMM, WAC, backup-based), downtime management, compliance, and how DP3 supports the process.
Read Article →Cloud Backup for Microsoft 365: What You Need to Know
What Microsoft does and doesn’t protect, where the gaps are, and a vendor-by-vendor comparison of Veeam, AvePoint, N-able Cove, and Backupify. Includes guidance for law firms and professional services.
Read Article →17 of 17 articles
Have a Question About Your IT Strategy?
We're always happy to discuss the topics we write about. Schedule a conversation with our team — no sales pitch, just straight answers.
Schedule a Consultation