⚖️ Law firms
Secure file sharing for lawyers and law firms
Send case documents, legal advice or client correspondence without exposing professional secrecy. End-to-end encryption, hosting exclusively in France, automatic link expiry.
Professional secrecy is not optional, it is the law
Under Article 66-5 of the French law of 31 December 1971, professional secrecy covers the advice sent to a client, the correspondence exchanged between a lawyer and their client, and more broadly every document in the case file, on any medium: paper, fax or electronic. Breaching that secrecy is a criminal offence under Article 226-13 of the French Penal Code. Sending a private agreement, a draft writ or sensitive exhibits through a consumer email service means entrusting those files to servers you do not control, often hosted outside Europe. The RPVA and e-Barreau networks secure your exchanges with the courts within litigation procedure, but they do not cover the daily transmission of a file to your client, to a colleague on an amicable matter or to an expert. That is exactly the gap Pli Scellé closes.
The Cloud Act trap for a law firm
The 2018 US Cloud Act allows federal authorities to compel any US-based provider to hand over the data it hosts, wherever the servers physically sit, including in France. The act provides no exception for data covered by lawyer-client privilege. Storing a client file on a platform tied to a US company therefore creates a direct contradiction: US law can demand the disclosure of files that French law forbids you to reveal. Pli Scellé is published and hosted by SHPV FRANCE SAS, on servers located in France, beyond the reach of the Cloud Act.
Your everyday use cases
Send a file to your client
Deliver pleadings, submissions and supporting exhibits through a secure link. Your client clicks, downloads, and the link expires. No copy remains on our servers past the expiry date.
Receive documents without a client account
With receive links, your client uploads documents directly, with no sign-up and no software. Handy for collecting proof of income, contracts or evidence ahead of a meeting.
Exchange with a colleague or expert
Share an amicable file, a memo or an expert report through a password-protected link with a controlled lifespan. The recipient needs no Pli Scellé account.
Send identity or banking details
Bank details, ID, certificates: add a password and limit the link to a single view. The secret is revealed once, then the link closes.
What Pli Scellé guarantees
End-to-end AES-256-GCM encryption
In zero-knowledge mode, your files are encrypted in your browser before upload. The server never sees their content: no intermediary, no third party, and not us can read them. The key never leaves your device.
Hosting exclusively in France
SHPV FRANCE SAS operates on French servers. Your files remain under French law, outside the Cloud Act, in line with your professional duties and the GDPR. Source
Automatic expiry and purge
Each link lasts from 1 hour to 30 days depending on the plan. Once that window closes, the files are purged. No hidden archiving, no leftover copy.
Password protection and antivirus scanning
Add a password to a link, cap the number of views, and every file that is not end-to-end encrypted runs through a ClamAV antivirus scan before it becomes available.
No tracking
No advertising trackers, no data resale, no profiling of your recipients. Your clients are not followed when they retrieve a file.
SSO and audit log for firms
On professional plans, connect your corporate directory through single sign-on and trace access through an audit log, for the internal governance of a firm or a legal department.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Pli Scellé comply with a lawyer's professional secrecy?
- Professional secrecy is a duty that falls on you as a lawyer, under Article 66-5 of the 1971 law. No tool can stand in for it. Pli Scellé gives you the technical means to honour it: in end-to-end encrypted mode, the content of your files is readable by no one but the recipient you chose, and hosting stays in France, under French law.
- Is it a replacement for the RPVA or e-Barreau?
- No. The RPVA and e-Barreau are used to communicate with the courts within litigation procedure, and their use is mandatory for certain acts. Pli Scellé covers a different need: the confidential transmission of documents and files outside the procedure, with your client, a colleague on an amicable matter, an expert or a party.
- Does my client need an account to retrieve a file?
- No. You send them a link, they download directly, with no sign-up and no installation. For them to upload documents to you, use a receive link: again, no account is required on their side.
- What happens to the files after sending?
- Each link has a lifespan you set, from 1 hour to 30 days depending on the plan. At expiry, the files are purged from our servers. No copy is kept beyond that window.
- Why does hosting in France make a difference?
- The US Cloud Act can compel a US-based provider to surrender data, even when hosted in Europe, with no exception for professional secrecy. Hosting your files in France, with a French publisher, places them under French law alone and keeps you clear of that legal contradiction.