Best Practices for Protecting Sensitive Legal Documents

Every day, clients trust legal professionals and law offices with a vast amount of sensitive information, whether personal, business-related, and so on. As one would expect, law practitioners must take all necessary measures to ensure that their clients’ information stays confidential. After all, a data leak can have devastating consequences, ranging from legal liabilities to financial losses and reputational damage.

In this blog, we share some of the best practices your law office can follow to protect the sensitive legal documents entrusted to your care.

The Risks of Failing to Protect Legal Documents

Before we dive into what things you need to do, it's essential to know why they need to be done in the first place.

Your legal documents may be jeopardized in several ways, such as (but not limited to):

• Physical theft

  Loss or theft of a legal document can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.

• Human error

  Accidental disclosure or mishandling of documents may result in breaches. This can be as simple as accidentally letting visitors read the content of a legal document on your desk.

• Data breaches

  These refer to unauthorized access to your electronic devices or networks, which can expose your practice’s documents to hackers.

• Phishing attacks

  Phishing emails can trick your law firm’s employees into clicking on malicious links or attachments, leading to a data leak. (Watch our webinar to learn 7 signs to spot a phishing email.).

• Social engineering

  Attackers may also use social engineering tactics to manipulate employees into revealing their clients’ sensitive information.

• Insider threats

  Last but not least, even staff with access to sensitive legal documents may pose a risk if they have malicious intent or are compromised by external actors.

Best Practices for Legal Document Protection

Now that you’re aware of what you’re against, here are some things you can do to maintain the confidentiality of your legal documents:

1. Physical Security

   Protect physical documents from theft or unauthorized access by storing them in secure, locked locations. Consider installing high-resolution security cameras and alarms to prevent unauthorized access to your files.

2. Access Controls

   Implement robust access controls to limit access to your documents. You may use role-based access controls to grant employees only the permissions they need to perform their tasks. On top of that, make sure everyone in your office uses complex passwords and regularly changes them. Also, consider using multi-factor authentication for added security.

3. Regular Backups

   Regularly create backups of your documents and store them in a secure location, ideally off-site. With this, you can quickly recover data in case of a breach or loss. In addition, use a reliable backup solution and test your backups regularly to ensure they’re working properly.

4. Encryption

   Make sure to encrypt all your sensitive legal documents, both at rest and in transit. By doing this, even if your documents are intercepted, they remain inaccessible to unauthorized people. Use robust encryption algorithms and update your encryption keys regularly.

5. Employee Training

   If you have staff, regularly train them on the best practices in data security (for starters, ask them to read this blog). Talk to them about the importance of strong passwords and how to avoid phishing scams, recognize signs of a data breach, and report any suspicious activity. Reinforce those practices in your office policies and procedures.

6. Incident Response Plan

    It’s good to be ready if the worst happens, so consider preparing a comprehensive incident response plan to address any security breaches. The plan should specify what steps must be taken in case of a breach, including containment, notification, and recovery. If possible, test your incident response plan to ensure that your team is prepared to respond to a security incident if it occurs.

7. Regular Reviews

   Finally, find a way to conduct regular reviews of your security measures to ensure they remain effective and address emerging threats. If possible, stay informed about the latest security best practices and technologies and let your law office’s staff know about them as well.

Additional Tips and Considerations

You can do a few other things to protect your legal files. For instance, if you use cloud storage for legal documents, shop around and choose a reputable provider with strong security measures in place.

If you work with third-party vendors who have access to your sensitive legal documents, make sure that they, too, have adequate security measures in place.

Also, make sure you and your staff use mobile devices that are protected with strong passwords, encryption, and mobile device management tools—since you’re likely to access legal documents there at least once.

Finally, consider setting up data retention policies to determine how long you’ll retain sensitive legal documents. That way, you can destroy documents that are no longer needed to avoid unauthorized access and save space at the same time.

SumnerOne: Your Data Security Partner

At SumnerOne, we know the critical importance of protecting sensitive legal documents. Our team of experts is ready to provide you with the tools and support you need to safeguard your valuable legal documents.

Contact us today to learn more about our comprehensive solutions for law offices and legal professionals.