Extract from Reveal’s article “FedRAMP Authorization for Legal Cloud Vendors”
FedRAMP Authorization: Why It Has Become Non-Negotiable for Legal Cloud Vendors
Federal agencies do not award legal technology contracts based on feature lists. They award them based on trust, and in today’s procurement environment, trust has a formal definition: FedRAMP authorization. For legal cloud vendors seeking to serve government clients, the question is no longer whether to pursue FedRAMP authorization. It is how long they can afford to wait.
A growing number of federal agencies now require FedRAMP authorization before a cloud vendor can be considered for eDiscovery or litigation support work. Vendors who cannot meet this threshold are excluded before procurement conversations begin.
The Compliance Landscape Has Shifted Beneath Legal Vendors
For years, legal technology vendors could operate in the federal space under informal security agreements or agency-specific accreditation. That era has largely closed. The federal government has moved toward centralized cloud security requirements, and legal data covering litigation files, investigative records, FOIA responses, and privileged communications sits squarely in scope.
