Wild Weather, Fires, Floods Threaten Law Firms

Something Neil Cameron wrote jumped out as I read the British publication Managing Partner: “You can lead a horse to water…Don’t wait for it to drink. Stick a hosepipe down its throat!”

Here comes the hosepipe. Driving to work this morning, the car radio news was reporting that a Pentagon study predicted 3,000,000 U. S. deaths from a pandemic with 40 percent of first responders and medical providers too sick to perform their duties. This news comes after unusual Easter snowstorms affected large portions of the country and crippled our transportation system for several days. Wildfires are burning on both coasts, including one that endangered Griffith Park in the heart of Los Angeles. Heartland storms just wiped out an entire town and floods are putting downstream cities underwater.

The hand of Mother Nature is not the only one that law firms have to protect themselves and their clients from. Individual law firms dependent on technology systems are at risk from system failure, data loses, viral attacks and security breaches. Terrorism, vandalism, pipe breaks, power blackouts and fire, even a small fire, add to the threats that law firms face.

Don’t forget the firm’s most valuable and precious assets that walk out the door at night to face their own risk and mortality as individuals. The “office” can be secure and the firm will have to deal with the loss of key partners or personnel without warning.

By now you would think law firm leaders would have gotten the message. A survival plan, a plan to deal with emergencies and the loss of access to key attorneys and staff with minimal interruption, is a business necessity and a professional obligation. Those firms without plans are betting their future, and the odds are against them.

The same issue (April 2007) of the Managing Partner containing Neil Cameron’s quote included the article Plan of Action dealing with the increased emphasis UK firms are placing on business continuity plans in the face of a pending regulatory change that will require the principals of law firms to make arrangements for the continuation of the practice in the event of an emergency or lost of access to legal personnel. You can find the article at www.mpmanagingpartner.com.

While robust continuity plans are desirable, relatively simple basic steps can provide an important safety net for the firm and its clients:

• The first priority is personal safety—always protect lives first. Establish evacuation and reassembly procedures. Make sure everyone understands that no one is to risk or endanger their life or the life of others for paper, media, or any other material or firm property.
• Have your data backed up using one of the continuous online backup services like LiveVault®.
• Make the move toward a paperless office—-electronic copies of your client files can be backed up—paper files go unprotected.
• Provide all legal talent with the ability to work from home with computer and Internet connections.
• Devise a communication plan. Maintain current employee contact information (including an alternate contact outside of the area for use as an intermediary) and get the contact information in the right hands and in various forms, including a printed document. At a minimum, establish calling "trees" so that by contacting a few people, information can be disseminated quickly to everyone. Better yet, provide all legal talent and key personnel with cell phones and preferably PDA devices like the BlackBerry®. Ideally, an emergency phone number should be set up with a non-local phone service and communicated to employees as well as clients.
• Identify a small crisis team and a team leader to coordinate operations during the crisis period.
• Address the issue of where the firm can set up a temporary operation. This may be as simple as identifying the homes of certain partners or preparing a list of options, including branch offices or client locations. It is a good idea to identify and establish contact with a commercial real estate organization that you can call on a moment’s notice. Generally, the space issue can be resolved in a reasonable period after the fact.
• Your plan could be as elaborate as contracting with an offsite disaster recovery facility or maintaining a backup server and network facility, but at a minimum you should know who to turn to for essential equipment and the related services. The safest source and service provider will be one located outside of your geographic area. If you have laid the proper groundwork, equipment and network availability can usually be replaced in a few days.

While you are at it, also focus on the issues of medical emergencies and physical office security. With that in mind, see the prior post What is in the Law Firm Medicine Cabinet? and How Secure is Your Law Firm Suite?.

You can find extensive information on disaster and continuity planning on the Internet or through the ABA. There are professionals available to help you if you need it. The important thing is to do something. If you doubt that, just turn on the news. If you are having trouble getting firm partners to make business continuity provisions a priority, stick a hosepipe down their throats!

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