Legal & professional services
Backup for law firms that keeps privileged files recoverable
Mindtime copies your firm's mail, dossiers and laptops to immutable storage in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. Every backup job is checked and an air-gapped copy is kept, so ransomware or a deleted folder does not cost you client files.
In Dutch, German or English.
- NL · DEStored only in our own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany
- ImmutableObject Lock storage plus an air-gapped copy; every backup job is checked
- ISO 27001 · NEN 7510Audited security, with a data processing agreement in every contract
- NL · DE · ENSupport from people, no offshore call centres or chatbots
In short
Law firms need backups that cannot be altered, because a lawyer's duty of confidentiality and the years a closed dossier must stay available outlast any laptop or mailbox. Mindtime keeps immutable copies of Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, file storage and laptops in its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, with an air-gapped copy.
What's at stake
The data law firms can't afford to lose
Client dossiers and pleadings
Case files, evidence bundles, pleadings and advice memos are the record of what you did for a client and when. Without them you cannot defend your work in a complaint or a liability claim.
Privileged correspondence
Most instructions and advice travel by email. A mailbox emptied by a compromised account or a departing employee takes confidential client communication with it.
Hours, budgets and billing
Time entries and matter budgets feed every invoice. A gap in those records means unbilled work and difficult conversations with clients.
Rules and obligations
What the rules ask of law firms
Summarised from the sources listed at the bottom of this page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Confidentiality is a core value
The Advocatenwet names confidentiality as a core value of the profession in Article 10a, and anchors the lawyer's duty of confidentiality in Article 11a. Know who can reach client data in your backups and where it is stored. [1]
Closed dossiers stay relevant for years
The NOvA model office handbook points to the five-year limitation period for claims to return documents (Article 7:412 Dutch Civil Code), seven years for administrative records, and five or twenty years for liability claims under Article 3:310. Set your backup retention to the archiving period your firm chooses. [2]
Wwft supervision by the local dean
When a lawyer provides services covered by the anti-money-laundering act (Wwft), for example on property transactions or company formation, the Wwft applies. The local dean (deken) supervises compliance. [3]
Ransomware is a reportable data breach
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens treats loss of availability, including ransomware, as a data breach. A breach must be reported to the AP within 72 hours of becoming aware of it. [4]
NIS2 does not list legal services
Legal services are not among the sectors covered by the Cyberbeveiligingswet, the Dutch implementation of NIS2 that took effect on 15 August 2026. Your firm is not in scope for its legal work, but the GDPR duties above still apply. [5]
When it goes wrong
Ransomware on a Monday morning
Illustrative example: staff at a small litigation practice arrive to find the shared drive encrypted and a ransom note on every screen. The attacker has also wiped the backup disk attached to the office NAS. The firm's Mindtime copies are immutable and one copy is air-gapped, so they could not be changed from the infected network. After the backups are scanned for malware, dossiers are restored into an isolated, clean environment while the firm assesses whether to notify the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.
How Mindtime protects it
Backup for law firms, workload by workload
- Microsoft 365 backupOutlook mailboxes and SharePoint libraries hold most privileged correspondence and drafts.
- Google Workspace backupFirms working in Gmail and Drive need a copy outside Google's trash and Vault.
- Laptop and endpoint backupLawyers draft on laptops in court, on trains and at home, and those files are often not synced anywhere.
- NAS backupScanned archives of closed dossiers often sit on a single office NAS.
- Disaster RecoveryCourt deadlines do not move when your office systems are down.
The software you use, and what we protect around it
| Legalsense | Cloud practice management for dossiers, hours and billing. Check Legalsense's export and retention terms; Mindtime protects the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mail, documents and laptops your lawyers use around it. |
|---|---|
| BaseNet | All-in-one cloud software for lawyers, from intake to archive. As with any SaaS, confirm what the supplier keeps and for how long; Mindtime backs up the mailboxes, shared files and devices alongside it. |
| Microsoft 365 (Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint) | Where most correspondence and drafts live. Mindtime backs up mailboxes, OneDrive and SharePoint to its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. |
| Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive) | Used by firms that work fully in Google. Mindtime backs up Gmail and Drive outside Google's own environment. |
| Scanned paper dossiers on a NAS | If closed files are scanned to a Synology or QNAP NAS, Mindtime backs up that NAS off-site. |
Google Workspace
Google Workspace backup for law firms
Some firms run entirely on Gmail and Google Drive, with dossiers in shared folders and client mail in labels. Google keeps deleted items only for a limited time, and Vault is built for legal holds and discovery, not for restoring a firm after an incident.
- Items left in Drive's trash for more than 30 days are deleted permanently, and an administrator can recover items for only 25 days after a user empties the trash.
- Google states that Vault isn't designed to be a backup or archive tool; its exports are meant for discovery, not for restoring data at scale.
- When a user account is deleted, Google removes all data associated with it, so a departing lawyer's mailbox and Drive need their own copy first.
- Mindtime backs up Gmail and Drive to its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. You can test it with a 7-day free trial.
Before you switch
What law firms ask us first
Our practice management software runs in the cloud. Isn't that backed up already?
The supplier protects its own platform, but your mail, drafts on laptops and files in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace sit outside it. Check the supplier's export and retention terms, and let Mindtime cover the rest with immutable copies in the Netherlands and Germany.
We are a three-lawyer firm. Isn't this overkill?
Small firms carry the same confidentiality duty as large ones, usually with less IT help. Mindtime checks every backup job and monitors around the clock, so nobody in the office has to read logs. Support comes from Mindtime's own people in Dutch, German or English.
Does client data leave the EU?
No. Mindtime stores data only in its own Tier III data centres in the Netherlands and Germany, and every contract comes with a data processing agreement.
FAQ
Questions about backup for law firms
Can a law firm use cloud backup and still meet its duty of confidentiality?
Yes, if you choose the provider with care. Confidentiality means you must know who can access client data and where it is kept. Mindtime works under a data processing agreement, encrypts data in transit with AES-256, requires MFA for admin actions and stores everything in its own data centres in the Netherlands and Germany. It is audited against ISO 27001 and NEN 7510.
How long should a law firm keep backups of closed files?
Match backup retention to your archiving policy. The NOvA model office handbook mentions five years for claims to return documents, seven years for administrative records and up to twenty years for some liability claims. Decide per document type, set retention to match, and record the choice in your office handbook.
What happens if ransomware hits our office?
You restore from copies the attacker could not reach. Mindtime keeps immutable backups with Object Lock plus an air-gapped copy, scans backups for malware and restores into an isolated environment so the infection does not come back. Meanwhile, assess whether the incident must be reported to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens within 72 hours.
Is backup enough, or do we also need disaster recovery?
Backup protects your data; disaster recovery keeps the firm working. With Mindtime's standby infrastructure your servers can run in Mindtime's data centre while your office is out of action. A first test failover typically takes place within 10 days of starting, and DR is tested every quarter, so you know it works before a deadline depends on it.
Can we try it before we commit?
Yes. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace backup come with a 7-day free trial, and a free 15-minute demo shows how a mailbox or dossier folder is restored. Mindtime has been in business since 1998, and you speak to its own staff rather than an offshore call centre or a chatbot.
See it with your own data
Book a 15-minute demo
We show you a backup and a restore, and answer your questions in Dutch, German or English. No offshore call centres, no chatbots.