Disclosure: this article is written and published by DROZlegal, which competes in adjacent territory. Every cell below comes from the vendor’s own pages as we read them on the date shown, and from the single-vendor articles linked in the table, where the sources are listed. “Not stated” means the page was silent, not that the answer is no. We did not demo any product, see any contract or read any vendor’s privacy policy or terms. Vendors change their pages; confirm everything with the vendor. This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects publicly available information as of October 26, 2026.
The matrix: seven vendors, five questions
| Vendor (read date) | Canada or Ontario in product copy | Hosting provider named on its own page | Country or region of data stated | Ontario trust money (By-Law 9) | Price shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CASEpeer (Oct 16) | None in product text; the footer says 8am, LLC is an Independent Sales Organization of Fiserv Canada Ltd. | Not on the homepage. A 2024 Canadian Lawyer review says it is hosted through Amazon Web Services. | Not stated | “IOLTA-compliant payment processing,” a U.S. term; By-Law 9 not mentioned | No |
| SmartAdvocate (Oct 16) | Not stated | No; the server option says “server and data can be located anywhere” | No fixed location stated | Not stated | No; “based on your firm’s needs” |
| Litify (Oct 18) | Not stated | Yes: Salesforce and AWS | “U.S. (unless otherwise requested by customer)” | Not stated | No |
| Neos (Oct 20) | Not stated | No; “via the cloud platform” | Not stated | Not stated | No |
| Filevine (Oct 22) | A “Filevine CA” login link only | Yes: private AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google cloud instances | Not stated; backups run in “multiple AWS regions” | Not stated | No |
| Amicus Attorney and CARET Legal (Oct 24) | A toll-free number on the Amicus homepage; nothing on CARET | No | Not stated | Not stated; CARET lists a billing and accounting module | No |
| Lawmatics (Oct 26) | Not mentioned | Yes: Amazon Web Services | Not stated | Not stated; time and billing appear in the navigation only | No; plan names and contact limits, no amounts |
Each row is drawn from our single-vendor reads: CASEpeer and SmartAdvocate, Litify, Neos, Filevine, Amicus Attorney, AbacusLaw and CARET Legal and Lawmatics. Those articles list the exact pages read.
What the counts do and do not mean
Silence is not a no. A vendor can host in Canada and simply not say so on a marketing page. The point of the matrix is that an Ontario firm cannot confirm it from these pages, so the answer has to come in writing, in the contract or the data-processing terms.
A corporate address is not a data location. Filevine’s sub-processor page, for example, lists vendors by corporate address, and the page gives no statement of where data is processed. A “Filevine CA” login is likewise not, on its face, a hosting commitment.
Litify is the exception that proves the rule. It is the only vendor here to put a location in writing, and the default it states is the United States. That is useful precisely because it is specific: the firm knows what to negotiate.
Trust money is the widest gap. Ontario licensees report under Law Society By-Law 9, and not one of the seven pages mentions it. CASEpeer uses a U.S. trust-account term instead. Our guide to trust accounting software for Ontario firms sets out what to test on a sample file.
Six questions to put to any vendor, in writing
- In which country and region are our client files, and our backups, stored? Ask for the provider and the region, and whether the answer also holds for AI features.
- Can you commit to Canadian hosting in the contract? A default is not a commitment; Litify’s page shows that a location can be changed on request.
- Which AI vendors process our case text, and where? Some vendors publish a sub-processor list and some do not. Ask which listed vendors would ever see a file.
- Is our data used for training, and how long is it retained, in which logs? Get both answers in the data-processing terms, not on a sales call.
- How does the product handle client trust funds for an Ontario licensee? Ask for a demonstration on a sample file, not a feature list.
- What happens to our data if we leave? Ask for export formats, cost and whether matter history, documents and ledgers come across intact.
If the answers are specific and written, any of these products may suit a given firm. If they are vague, that is the finding. For the wider field, see our personal injury practice management guide for Ontario, the legal practice management software guide for Canada, the data-residency comparison for legal AI tools and the law firm software pricing guide.