In Which Step of Disaster Recovery Planning Should Legal and Contractual Requirements Be Reviewed?

From the global pandemic to California'southward wildfires to hurricanes in Florida, this year has shown united states of america that the unexpected can—and, unfortunately, does—happen.

While no one expects you lot to predict or prevent the unpredictable, you should exist prepared for how your police house will respond. How you react and adapt to disastrous events tin hateful the divergence betwixt resuming piece of work with relative concern continuity—or leaving your clients stranded or in the worst scenario, closing your business concern. Being unprepared for emergencies tin also leave your firm's staff, clients, and data vulnerable and at adventure.

Law firms need a clearly defined police force business firm disaster recovery plan now, so that they can get back to work as rapidly as possible (and with as little loss of data, time, and business every bit possible) after an unexpected result.

In this post, nosotros'll cover the essentials of disaster recovery strategy and planning for law firms. We'll outline what a disaster recovery program should include, and how to create and maintain it. In improver, nosotros'll review the ethical obligations to consider when creating a police force firm disaster recovery plan, and discuss essential technology and tools you can start using now. These tools volition exist fundamental to keeping your house running should a worst-case scenario occur.

Ethical obligations when creating a law firm disaster recovery plan

An effective law firm disaster recovery plan is about more than but the potential business disruption. As with whatsoever aspect of running a police force firm, you must likewise consider and research the ethical rules of creating a disaster plan. Taking the fourth dimension to research the exact ethical obligations that apply to your business firm is important, every bit they volition vary depending on your location and state. Those ethical obligations should then shape the procedures that your house implements for disasters.

The act of preparing for potential disaster—both by having a disaster recovery program and past using available technology to safeguard client data—can help ensure your business firm tin meet its ethical obligations should the unexpected occur.

The American Bar Association offers guidance with this formal stance on upstanding obligations related to disasters . While you should review this in detail along with researching your area's specific obligations, (note that many states have non adopted the ABA model rules for this topic), the overarching takeaway is that "The Rules of Professional person Bear apply to lawyers affected by disasters."

As the ABA reminds us, "Lawyers have an ethical obligation to implement reasonable measures to safeguard property and funds they concur for clients or third parties, gear up for business interruption, and proceed clients informed nearly how to contact the lawyers (or their successor counsel)."

Highlights from ABA's model rules

Highlights include a business firm's responsibility to:

Communicate with clients after a disaster: As ABA Model Rule 1.4 (communication) states, lawyers are required to "accept reasonable steps to communicate with clients afterwards a disaster." You should have a plan in advance for how you lot will be able to access client contact and information, too as a strategy for physically reaching out (for instance, via phone or e-mail).

Shop client files electronically with a reputable software provider: ABA Model Rule ane.one (competence) touches on the need for lawyers to "develop sufficient competence in applied science to run across their obligations under the Rules after a disaster." Take the time to learn and implement a organisation for storing client files securely, electronically, with a reputable provider earlier a disaster strikes.

Ensure access to funds in trust: Co-ordinate to ABA Model Rule 1.15 (safekeeping property), lawyers must "protect trust accounts, documents, and property the lawyer is holding for clients or tertiary parties."

What are the features of an effective law firm disaster recovery program?

Your law firm disaster recovery plan needs to cover certain essential topics. Have a clear set of priorities is also central. Specifically, an constructive police business firm disaster recovery plan must consider—and take a documented programme for how to account for—the following factors (in order of priority):

Condom
Staff
Systems
Services
Suppliers
Business resumption

One time the above factors are accounted for, you can move forward towards resuming concern.

How practise I create a constabulary business firm disaster recovery plan?

An constructive law firm disaster strategy should exist a step-by-stride document that'south well thought-out, written downward, and oft revised. Your disaster recovery programme should give your squad a clearly defined pattern on how to resume business organisation operations, protect client data, and communicate the plan to essential personnel and clients.

Steps to creating a police force firm disaster recovery plan

The first step to preparing your law business firm for disaster is to assemble a law business firm disaster recovery plan. With this plan, the goal is to recover your police business firm and clients' information .

Brainstorm, draft, and document your plan for the following points, and then revisit the plan at least once every year to revise as necessary.

Identify the scope of the situation. Brainstorm likely problems for your surface area (for instance, do yous live in a hurricane-decumbent region?).

Appoint emergency contacts. We also recommend educating team members on personally preparing for disaster by having personal emergency kits that agree 72 hours worth of essential supplies.

Get a disaster recovery team together. Identify specific people at your house.

Determine roles and responsibilities. Ensure that anybody knows their roles in advance.

Restore applied science functionality. You should know how long it may take to become your technology dorsum in service if there is any pause.

Data and backups. Have a system in place—with backups—to protect and recover firm and client information.
Exercise testing and maintenance. Ensure any hardware, software, or other technology your house uses is well-maintained.

Steps to creating a constabulary house disaster response plan

You also demand to build a detailed law house disaster response plan. When creating your law firm disaster response program, the goal is to be able to jump into action as quickly as possible when needed. Hither'southward how:

Step 1: Comport an inventory.

You should always know exactly what your firm has on manus then that anyone following your plan knows what needs to be recovered or replaced. Your inventory should account for:

Software. Make a list of any software your house uses. How many licenses practice you have? Practice yous need to have passwords or other ways to access it?
Hardware : How many computers, servers, or other pieces of physical hardware does your firm have—and where are they located?
Client files . Should a disaster occur, have an inventory of all client files in your business firm's possession so that they can exist recovered.
Location. Notation the locations of everything. For example, are files stored in the cloud, or a physical location?

Pace 2: Practise a hazard assessment.

Business relationship for:

Each type of asset in your inventory. Include everything from firm hardware to client files.
Possible risks to those assets. Consider natural disasters, hardware failures, service provider failures, or human error.
The likelihood of each run a risk.
The bear upon of each hazard. What would happen to each item if that chance should occur? For example, if the asset was paper customer files and the risk was an office fire, the impact would be high and devastating.
Ways to mitigate the risk. Are there means to mitigate future risks? For example, moving paper files to a secure cloud-based server at present could greatly reduce the bear on of a burn down to a physical office location in the previous example.

Pace 3: Identify critical services, systems, and data.

Graphic shows symbols representing digital security

Group each of the types of information, systems, and services at your law firm into the following categories. This allows you lot to prioritize should a disaster occur.

Disquisitional: For case, any important client data that is located on a single server or has no backup is of critical importance.
Medium: Data or systems that are important to clients or the upshot of a example, but that could exist recovered (for example, a file with a backup).
Low: Items in the low category tin can be hands replaced, or are backed up in multiple places and easily recoverable.

Footstep iv: Define your recovery objectives.

Determine how long you could reasonably be without each service or application deemed for in your plan after a disaster. For each, make up one's mind your:

Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The acceptable amount of time any of your data and systems could be unavailable.
Recovery Signal Objective (RPO): The acceptable corporeality of information your business firm can afford to lose.

Stride 5: Identify supporting tools.

Identify whatsoever tools, techniques, and procedures that support your recovery objectives.

Data backup: Do y'all backup your information? How often? Where is information technology located (is the fill-in site located in the aforementioned region as the primary site)? Assess your current state of affairs, and brand note of whatsoever gaps that could be an issue. In this case, consider ways to mitigate the risk, such as using a cloud-based data storage system.
Automation:Could you apply automation engineering science to remove or reduce human mistake to help protect your firm in example of disaster?
Outsourcing:Can you outsource any critical functions (like data-hosting backups) to mitigate risk in case of a physical disaster?
Planning for recovery: Make a list of the tangible steps to have to recover specific avails and data. We recommend having copies of insurance policies so that clients can open claims every bit early on as possible.

Step 6: Assign responsible individuals.

Should a disaster occur, people should know in accelerate what their responsibilities are

Identify members of your response team and assign roles and responsibilities: Ensure each person is aware of their specific responsibilities. For example, who would declare a disaster and start your disaster programme? Who would be responsible for client communication?
Service providers: Place any service providers to be contacted (for example, if your house would demand professional data restoration help, who you would contact? Who on your team would contact them?).
Create a contingency plan. Always take a backup program for if an assigned private is unavailable in an emergency.

Step 7: Review SLAs (service level agreements) with vendors.

For every contract that you take (for example, with SAAS providers, insurance companies, landlords), have a divers service level understanding that includes details on what would happen—and how long it would have—to move forwards after a disaster.

Step 8: Decide how to handle sensitive data.

Document a plan for handling essential records (similar employment records, financials, and client files) in terms of confidentiality, security, and integrity following a disaster. Considerations could include:

Hard re-create and soft copy documentation: What is the procedure for transferring hard copies of files to some other person?
Secure communication: Who tin admission files, and how?
Tracking requests to admission: What would be the next steps if a client wants to switch attorneys during a disaster response?

Stride 9: Create a communication program.

Document a program for communication in case of disaster, including:

How? Item the specific means of advice your team members will use.
When? How and when will your firm communicate with essential personnel, service providers, and clients?
Who? Who volition be responsible for each type of advice? Nosotros recommend planning multiple methods of communication, as you tin can't rely on any i method during a disaster. For case, phone networks tin drop during hurricanes, but text messaging may remain available despite experiencing pregnant delays.

Pace 10: Document the plan.

Write it all downward. This reduces guesswork and speeds up the resumption of business when disaster strikes. Be sure to:

Create a centralized document. Nosotros recommend having multiple copies. Store a copy in the deject for remote accessibility. Besides, accept a local re-create on a telephone, laptop, or printed out in case of major disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, where telecommunications volition fail.
Share it. Familiarize the whole team with the plan.

Step eleven: Test the plan—annually.

Examination your programme, and test it frequently. Testing helps ensure that anybody at your business firm knows what to practise, and too helps account for normal business factors like staff turnover or moving offices.

How will y'all test your program? Consider:

Types of tests: Volition you do a walkthrough, simulation testing, total intermission testing, or parallel testing?
What works (and doesn't): So y'all can adjust the plan and train staff appropriately.

Step 12: Review and update the plan annually.

Consider:

The results of your last exam.
Whatever changes to your setup or location.
Any changes to your squad.
New software or service providers.

Essentials for when the unexpected strikes

The ability to exist agile with your business organisation—that is, having the tools and technology to safely and securely conduct business firm business from wherever you lot are—tin be the departure-maker for your firm's survival when disasters occur. The following essentials can help.

Essential tools for resuming concern

Hardware/laptop : You'll need access to an up-to-date calculator (or whatsoever motorcar if y'all're using cloud-based software).
High-speed cyberspace: Loftier-speed internet when working remotely subsequently a disaster is essential.
Telephone, smartphone, or other mobile devices. Smartphones and mobile devices tin be used to conduct business remotely, but you'll still need a phone to telephone call clients and service providers.
Call forwarding and virtual receptionists : Tools like call forwarding or a virtual receptionist service similar Ruddy tin can help keep calls answered and clients cared for.
Scanner : Essential for handling hard copies of documents and making hard copies more accessible to squad members and/or clients.

Essential software and services

Secure, deject-based software and legal technology can help provide much-needed peace of mind in the face of disaster and uncertainty. In fact, co-ordinate to the 2020 Legal Trends Report , "legal professionals rank technology as a high priority to their firm's success"—now and in the future.

Clio: Clio'southward cloud-based practice management software lets you piece of work from anywhere, while keeping your files and piece of work secure in the cloud. Clio Grow's legal client human relationship management software, for case, streamlines, personalizes, and automates client intake—making client intake easier for you and potential clients post-obit a disaster. Clio Manage makes information technology easier for you and your firm to do billable work in the deject—so you can manage cases and clients effectively from anywhere.
Microsoft 365 (with Teams) : Microsoft Teams lets you create the communication flow of an office surround, without being in the office. This means that you lot and your team can piece of work productively—without clogging everyone's email inbox with the discussion you lot would have otherwise had in person.
Video conferencing software: Help keep your team together, conduct meetings, and have face-time with clients by using video conferencing software like Zoom .
e-Signature tools: Not all documents require wet signatures. For those that don't, using due east-signature tools like ZorroSign, DocuSign , or HelloSign streamlines signatures when it's harder to run into with people. Clio Grow also enables lawyers and clients to use e-signature in documents.
Secure client portal: Maintaining security is critical in the wake of an unexpected event, and using a secure client portal makes document management and access simpler and more secure.

Credit bill of fare processing and payment plans: The 2020 Legal Trends Study plant that the majority of consumers (65%) prefer to pay using electronically—via methods like credit and debit cards, or Clio Payments and Apple Pay. Subsequently a disaster, your clients may have a harder time making payments in traditional ways—and secure online payments are easier, faster, and safer for you and your clients.
Email entrada software: Should a disaster occur, email campaign software lets you automate messages to your client base and vendors, and easily send communications to advisable lists, tailored to specific groups. Software similar Clio Abound lets you create and send automatic-yet-personalized emails to your clients.

Use this guide to be prepared every bit possible for the unexpected

While we always hope for the best, the fact is that the unexpected happens—like natural disasters, global pandemics, or floods at your office. How you react to those events tin set your business firm autonomously and make it possible for you to help clients who may also be experiencing a disaster.

While you can't predict the unforeseen, you can be as prepared as possible by creating a law firm disaster recovery plan. An constructive programme doesn't have to be complicated, but it must be thorough, up-to-date, and see the ethical obligations of your area. By setting upwards, testing, and reviewing your firm's disaster recovery program, you'll be fix to act when the unexpected strikes.

We published this blog post in November 2020. Final updated: January 18, 2022.

Categorized in: Concern

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Source: https://www.clio.com/blog/law-firm-disaster-recovery-plan/