By capability
NetDocuments, capability by capability.
Based on our practitioners’ point of view, what we are hearing in the market, and what each vendor has stated.
| Capability | What NetDocuments offers | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Document and knowledge management | Workspaces, folders and templates, versioning and search, in the cloud. | Core strength |
| ndMail for Outlook and for Gmail. | Core strength | |
| Collaboration | Microsoft 365, Outlook and Teams integration. | Included |
| Security | Ethical Walls, data loss prevention and advanced security. | Core strength |
| Records and retention | A document management system with additional records management functionality: retention and archiving policies, legal holds and secure deletion. | Included |
| AI | ndMAX Legal AI Assistant, AI apps and PatternBuilder. | Add-on |
| eSignature | Docusign integration: send and track signatures from the DMS. | Included |
| ELM integration | Onit, Wolters Kluwer, Legal Tracker and others. | Through integration |
From NetDocuments’ product pages, October 2026. Where it stands is our assessment.
Design
Matter-centric or client-matter-centric, and the folder structure behind it.
The design decision drives security, search, retention and adoption more than the choice of vendor does.
Matter-centric design
Every document, email and note lives in the matter workspace, which opens and closes with the matter in your ELM or practice management system. Workspace templates keep folder structures consistent across matters.
Client-matter-centric design
Common in law firms, where everything revolves around the client and the case. Content is organized by client, then by case, so access, ethical walls and retention follow the client relationship. Folder and template structure follows the case lifecycle.
Different needs
Law firms and legal departments need different things.
Their business needs, the drivers that keep the system working, and their integrations differ. We understand that, and design solutions that work for the use case and the customer.
Law firms
The DMS has to keep billable work moving: matters opened from the practice management system, conflicts and ethical walls between clients, time and billing connections, and secure sharing with clients.
Corporate legal departments
The DMS has to fit the business: matters opened from the ELM platform (Onit, Wolters Kluwer, Legal Tracker and others), contracts from CLM, Docusign for signature workflow, Microsoft 365 for collaboration, and retention policies that legal and records both accept.
Alternatives
The alternatives.
The main alternative for legal work is iManage: see NetDocuments vs iManage. Some departments run documents on SharePoint and Microsoft 365, which works when governance is designed carefully and the matter structure is enforced.
Costs: NetDocuments pricing. Our document management practice covers the full picture.
Microsoft and enterprise integration
Microsoft-native, and connected to the rest of your systems.
Both NetDocuments and iManage are Microsoft-native products, built to work inside Outlook, Word and Teams. The harder work is connecting the DMS to the other systems a law firm or corporate legal department runs: practice management and ELM, CLM, billing, and records.
Our CIO, Ed Craft, spent 23 years at Microsoft and leads that integration work. Ed and Bob Frostad bring nearly 40 years at Microsoft between them, so the Microsoft 365 decisions come from people who worked on the platform.
One team
Why legal teams bring us in.
01
Readiness and fit
For many clients it is the nuances that separate the vendors. We confirm readiness and fit before you commit.
02
Law firm or legal department
Law firms and in-house legal teams have different business needs, different drivers for keeping the system working, and different integrations. We design for your use case.
03
Design, migration, adoption
Matter-centric or client-matter-centric design, folders and templates, migration, testing, documentation and training adapted to your team.
04
Both platforms
A NetDocuments partner, with professionals who have iManage experience, so the advice is not tied to one answer.
How we help
How we help.
01
Readiness and fit
A readiness assessment and a demo built on your own matters and content.
02
Implement
Design, configuration, migration and training as a NetDocuments partner.
03
Run it
Adoption, governance and continuous improvement after go-live.
Who you work with
The practitioners who run the evaluation.
Bob Frostad
PMO Director & DMS Lead
NetDocuments certified, with 30+ years in IT, 15+ at Microsoft, and a career in document management that runs through Kroll’s document management group. Delivered one of the largest NetDocuments implementations on record, for an organization with local offices in all 50 US states, and leads complex cross-platform data migrations.
Danish Butt
Managing Director
One of the first to bring matter-centric document management to corporate law departments. Has secured, built and run iManage partnerships, holds an ICSE (iManage certified engineer), and has specialized in DMS selection and implementation across insurance, pharmaceutical, high tech, manufacturing, utilities, and oil and gas.
Hassan El Asraoui
CEO & Co-Founder · Information Governance Leader
Leads Swiftwater’s information governance practice, with 30+ years guiding global clients on technology and transformation, including at Kroll. Delivered a DMS to a large global oil and gas company integrated with the matter and eBilling systems.
Ed Craft
Chief Information Officer
30+ years in technology leadership, including 23 years at Microsoft. Azure expert directing technology strategy and AI infrastructure, and leads integration of the DMS with Microsoft 365 and the enterprise systems law firms and legal departments run.
Frequently asked questions
Is NetDocuments a good fit for corporate legal departments?
Often, yes: it is a cloud DMS built for legal work, with ethical walls, email filing from Outlook or Gmail, Docusign, and integrations with ELM platforms such as Onit and Legal Tracker. Fit depends on your design and integrations, so we confirm readiness and fit first.
Is NetDocuments a records management system?
NetDocuments is a document management system, but it has additional records management functionality: retention and archiving policies, legal holds and secure deletion. Where a department has formal records requirements, we design those policies with records and legal together, so both accept them before go-live.
Does NetDocuments work with Gmail?
Yes. ndMail is available for Outlook and for Gmail, so emails can be filed to the matter from either.
How do we get a NetDocuments demo that reflects our matters?
Ask for a demo built on your own matter types, folder structure and integrations. As a NetDocuments partner, we set up demos and pilots around your use cases.
What NetDocuments training do users need?
Short, role-based training: lawyers on filing and finding, staff on workspaces and templates, administrators on security and governance. We adapt it to how your team works, which drives adoption more than the platform does.
Evaluating NetDocuments? Talk to a NetDocuments partner.
Book a Discovery CallDocument management pages
Part of our document management practice.
Also relevant: Enterprise Legal Management, CLM Implementation, Managed Services