Data Governance for Modern Law Firms
For law firms, effective data governance goes beyond IT security; it’s part of your professional responsibility.
The Risks of Mismanaged Data
Lawyers are bound by strict confidentiality obligations, attorney-client privilege protections, and Bar Association ethics rules that make data stewardship not just a best practice, but a professional duty.
A single data breach or mishandled document can result in ethics violations, malpractice claims, irreparable damage to client relationships, or even dismissal of a lawsuit.
Key Concerns
Inefficient data governance for law firms and legal teams can impact investigations and cases. Unauthorized access to files and a broken chain of custody mean inadmissible evidence. Mismanaged archives and data storage can lead to missed filing deadlines. Errors in data migrations can leave gaps for compliance issues.
Digital Evidence
- Email and texts, content across mobile apps, social media, videos, and voice notes can all be critical evidence in legal and civil cases
- Law firms need to maintain a chain of custody and retain original data
- Increase risks of inadvertent (or purposeful) unauthorized access/disclosure
Remote and Hybrid
- Secure access to files from multiple locations and jurisdictions
- Ensuring proper access permissions across offices and locations
- Collaboration and information sharing between legal teams, courts, investigators, law enforcement, and clients
Compliance + Ethics
- Maintaining data governance policies in compliance with data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc)
- Following rules and guidelines set by the American Bar Association
- Maintaining attorney-client privilege and confidentiality
- Data redaction for privacy protections and external sharing/public notifications
Law Firm Solutions From Bluesource
Data Privacy
Law firms need to balance in-depth investigations and litigation with privacy protections. GDPR, CCPA, state laws, and industry regulations like HIPAA impact the collection, archiving, and sharing of protected and confidential information. Compliance experts at Bluesource review your workflows and policies and provide guidance to ensure compliance with data privacy laws.*
*Assessments do not constitute formal certification
Managed Services
You’re the experts with the law; we’re the experts in data. Leave the day-to-day management of Arctera, Microsoft, and Cloudlocker technologies to Bluesource. Our flexible solutions with full EDRM support save law firms hours of time.
eDiscovery
On average, discovery accounts for 20-50% of litigation expenses. The more complex the case, the lengthier and more costly the discovery process is. Optimizing your eDiscovery workflow and having additional experts on hand saves time and lowers costs.
