CBA SOLUTIONS SERIES

Defend Your Data: Protecting Client Confidentiality in a Digital World

Many law firms have experienced cyberattacks and breaches. They are specifically targeted because they have confidential information, large sums of money in their trust accounts, and a reputation for weaker security of their information systems.

Lawyers also face expanding risks with the wider use of mobile devices and the implementation of new law office technologies. You need to take steps to understand these risks and arm yourself with techniques to safeguard against them.

This session will highlight key considerations from the CBA’s Legal Ethics in a Digital World technology guidelines and provide practical tips on the information security practices that lawyers should follow to protect their clients, themselves, and their information systems and devices.

The speakers will help you answer the following questions:

• Are your physical, organizational, and technological security measures adequate?
• Do you ensure that your clients are informed of, and accept, the risks associated with communicating by email and using the cloud?
• When is it appropriate to store client or firm data on the cloud, and how do you do it properly to protect client confidentiality?
• Do you know when to consider using encryption?
• Is your staff sufficiently trained to use technology safely?
• Do you have processes and systems in place to prevent or stop bad cheque frauds, phishing, and other online scams?
• Do you take adequate security measures and have a policy regarding the use of portable devices and other technology in your office?
• Have you taken adequate steps to guard against the inadvertent disclosure of metadata?
• Do you take all necessary steps to ensure that former employees can no longer access firm data?
• Is your data backed-up and does your firm have in place an incident response plan?
• When discarding equipment, do you take appropriate measures to guard against unauthorized disclosure of client information?

 
Click here to view the full series.

Presenters:

Dan Pinnington, Vice President, Claims Prevention & Stakeholder Relations, Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO), Toronto

Marie-Claude Rigaud, Member of the CBA Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee; Assistant Professor and Associate Dean of External Affairs and Communications, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal

Nicolas Vermeys, Professor and Associate Director of the Cyberjustice Laboratory, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal