Graf Air Freight: Personalized Logistics for the Legal Industry

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Michael Fitzgerald, President

“Prepare, prepare, prepare!”—it is safe to say that this is the axiomatic rule of trials. Every experienced trial lawyer knows the amount of hard work that goes into preparing for a case, and even with hours of preparations, there is always a chance for the unexpected to happen. Amidst all the hustle, it is important not to lose sight of a few important things before the trial begins.

Trial coordinators are under constant pressure not just to win a case but to ensure that they have everything they need at their disposal so that the trial or hearing runs smoothly. They have numerous concerns in this regard—“If the trial or hearing is not in my country or city, how am I going to transport my personal belongings? Will my critical documents and devices reach me safely? What technical equipment should I bring to the trial?” It then becomes imperative to meticulously ensure that all logistics are taken care of well in advance of the hearing. And, as one can imagine, all mission-critical documents, files, or any trial-related commodity must be handled with the utmost care and maximum security. This is why law firms rely on trustworthy logistics companies like Graf Air Freight for the transportation of time-sensitive, mission-critical shipments. Graf Air Freight provides personalized logistics services for law firms, safely, on time, and at competitive rates.

In a conversation with the editorial team at CIO Applications, Michael Fitzgerald, President of Graf Air Freight, discusses how his company provides law firms and legal teams with dedicated logistics services to help them focus on winning cases.
Could you provide us with an overview of your company?

We are a family-owned business specializing in the transportation of time-sensitive, mission-critical shipments for over 60 years. In the last 20 years, we have developed a business section focused on the legal industry, wherein we deliver our services for several high-profile law firms. Through trial and error, we have developed a list of solutions to help trial teams overcome various logistics challenges. Our services are specifically curated and tailored to meet the existing and emerging needs of the legal industry.

Years ago, we were contacted by different teams from the legal industry, like trial coordinators and IT coordinators, to provide logistics solutions for transporting and managing all of their equipment and war-room/trial supplies. During each trial, a war room is set up, and IT plays an important role in it. Be it paperwork or IT, everything needs to be secure, and a lot of care goes into transporting the equipment from point A to point B. Most of these trials occur outside the law firm—sometimes across the country and even internationally. This is where we come in and ease all logistics-related hassles for the people organizing the trial. The duration of these trials can range from a week, months or even years. Apart from high-priority documents and IT equipment, our clients depend on us to take care of all their personal items, be it exercise equipment, furniture, and more, and deliver them safely.

With our services, we take all logistics-related burdens off the shoulders of trial and IT coordinators and help them focus on their job.

What are the challenges that your customers are facing today?

Our services are geared toward the needs of trial coordinators, the Chief Information Officers, and even IT coordinators, and everything they need during a trial has to be handled and shipped in an extremely secure manner. One of the significant challenges our clients face while preparing for a trial is having everything delivered on time and in pristine condition. Especially when dealing with high profile trials, each item must be shipped with security and strict confidentiality—the usual FedEx or UPS shipping does not fit the bill here. All our services are customized as per the requirements of a project and all the equipment that needs to be transported.

When setting up war rooms, law firms often have multiple representatives coming in from different regions. To support their needs, we send out an onsite Graf Air team that is skilled and has extensive experience in setting up war-rooms. The team delivers and sets up all their furniture, file boxes and personal equipment on time.

Top-tier law firms often have multiple offices across the country, and every few years, they switch out all their IT equipment and upgrade them. These firms reach out to us to ship all their equipment because of how carefully we handle them. We use different modes of transportation to minimize, if not completely eliminate, damage.

Could you describe some of the services that your company offers?

We supply everything from large rolling racks, chairs, book carts, refrigerators to dry erase boards, and podiums. We provide a unique wardrobe service, whereby we deliver an empty wardrobe box (the size of a small closet) at the coordinators’ house a week before the trial to allow them to pack their attires at their convenience. We then pick it up and deliver it at the location of the trial when they require it, ensuring the garments are delivered in wrinkle-free, perfect condition. It is truly a white-glove service, tailored to the unique needs of trial teams. Once the trials are complete, we pack up all their belongings and ship them back to their respective locations. We provide custom packing and crating for high-value equipment, and our exclusive services are customized depending on the size of the client’s trial team, venue, and building requirements. We equip clients with a dedicated team available at their beck and call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We offer a Hand Carry on-board courier service, wherein one of our staff travels along with a high value/ sensitive package. On one occasion, we were entrusted with transporting a laptop that had to be forensically investigated. We assigned a team member to pick up the laptop from New York, fly it to Dallas, then San Diego, and back to New York.

Could you share an example where you helped your client achieve what they were looking for?

We worked for a high-profile trial case in New York, wherein the media was involved and constantly hunted for new information. As confidentiality is crucial in these trials, we were very particular about ensuring there were no information leaks. We executed the task discreetly and shipped all the materials securely and seamlessly.

Let us focus on the logistics so you can focus on winning the case

In another case, our services proved beneficial for a trial in multiple locations throughout Europe, which continued for three to five years. We had to transport seven truckloads of material for the client. However, the buildings these items were supposed to be shipped to were not designed for truckloads. We coordinated with the delivery teams and successfully delivered the materials to our clients right at their doorstep, even in the small buildings.

What does the future hold for Graf Freight Air?

We are marching toward a brighter future. We have grown exponentially in numerous markets and achieved great success in 2019. With big plans for the years ahead, we are constantly innovating to serve our clients in the best way possible and introduce our services to new markets.