Looking for a convenient way to share information and collaborate with fellow attorneys, staff, and clients without relying on e-mail, phone calls, and snail mail? If you don't have an intranet or extranet, then Basecamp, an online collaboration software application produced by the company 37signals, may be worth looking into.

Activity focuses around "projects" in Basecamp. You can create projects for each of your client matters; once a project has been created, just add people who will need online access to it (e.g., attorneys, clients, and other staff members).

Basecamp organizes your project workflow into activities such as creating milestones (deadlines) and to-do-lists, leaving messages for collaborators, and uploading and sharing files. Pages for carrying out these activities are accessible by clicking on labeled tabs along the top of your work area. Activity among all of your projects is reflected in a dashboard view that greets you every time you log in to Basecamp.

Milestones are used to create and track project deadlines, while to-do lists are used to delegate and track tasks among collaborators. You can specify who is responsible for each milestone and to-do list item, and can choose to send out e-mail reminders.

Collaborators can use the Messages page to post, read, and reply to messages within Basecamp as an alternative to communicating through e-mail. You can specify who has access to different messages, and files can be attached to messages, just like with e-mail.

The Writeboard page is designed for creating collaborative text documents online. Writeboard keeps track of old versions and has version-compare functionality.

Other features include a Files page for uploading and tracking versions of important project files, a Time page for manually keeping track of time spent on various tasks, and private RSS feeds which can inform you of any changes made to your projects. Chat is available with a Campfire account.

As with any online information sharing software, attorneys must be aware of client confidentiality considerations. Organizing your projects matter by matter (or case by case) and granting access privileges for each individual project will help ensure that only the appropriate people know about and have access to each project. Three monthly subscription plans feature SSL encryption for greater security: Plus, Premium, and Max, which cost $49, $99, and $149 a month, respectively.

You can take a product tour and sign up for a free trial at the Basecamp website. Here are two blog posts on the use of Basecamp in law firms: Project Management Technology, a post on the "Greatest American Lawyer" blog, and Top Ten Mac Applications for Solo Attorneys, a post on the "Mac Lawyer" blog.