Exclusive: Verlata Partners with ActiveNav to Tackle Unstructured Data Risks for Law Firms

Key Takeaways

• Law firms store critical documents outside DMS, increasing risk
• ActiveNav Cloud discovers, classifies, and secures unstructured data
• Verlata adds governance expertise, extending ActiveNav into APAC/EMEA
• Joint solution enables policy creation, risk mitigation, and data remediation
• Improved visibility reduces compliance breaches and client confidentiality threats

Summary

Verlata Consulting has partnered with data‑discovery specialist ActiveNav to offer law firms a joint solution for locating, governing, and securing unstructured content stored outside traditional document‑management systems. ActiveNav Cloud scans network shares, cloud storage and local drives, classifying files and enabling remediation such as import into NetDocuments or secure disposal. The collaboration leverages Verlata’s legal‑industry expertise and risk‑compliance services, extending the offering across APAC and EMEA markets. The partnership is live immediately, giving firms continuous visibility into hidden matter data and tools to enforce retention and security policies.

Pulse Analysis

Law firms worldwide continue to grapple with a hidden liability: matter files that reside outside their primary document‑management systems. While NetDocuments and similar platforms centralize case files, attorneys often copy contracts, emails, and evidentiary material to personal drives, shared network folders, or third‑party cloud services. This fragmented storage undermines e‑discovery readiness, breaches client‑confidentiality obligations, and exposes firms to ransomware and insider threats. Regulatory regimes such as GDPR, the UK’s Data Protection Act, and evolving anti‑money‑laundering rules demand precise control over where sensitive information lives, making unstructured data a top‑priority risk area.

The Verlata‑ActiveNav partnership directly addresses that gap. ActiveNav Cloud employs AI‑driven scanning to locate files across heterogeneous repositories, automatically classifying them by matter, sensitivity, and retention schedule. Once identified, the platform can route documents into NetDocuments, enforce retention policies, or lock them down in place. Verlata contributes deep legal‑industry knowledge, crafting bespoke governance frameworks, policy templates, and risk‑assessment services that align technology with firm‑wide behavior change. By bundling these capabilities, the joint solution offers continuous visibility and actionable remediation for firms operating in APAC and EMEA, regions where data‑sovereignty concerns and multilingual compliance requirements add complexity.

For law firms, the combined offering translates into measurable business benefits. Enhanced data governance reduces the likelihood of costly sanctions, protects client trust, and streamlines e‑discovery workflows, shortening litigation timelines. Moreover, the partnership positions firms to adopt a proactive security posture, shifting from reactive document hunts to continuous monitoring. As the legal market increasingly values technology‑enabled efficiency, firms that integrate this solution can differentiate themselves, attract risk‑aware clients, and future‑proof operations against evolving cyber and regulatory threats.