TECHNOLAWYER.COM: SEVEN CRITICAL AREAS TO ADDRESS WHEN PLANNING FOR DISASTER

By Arthur L. Smith

INTRODUCTION

The grim events in New York City in early September still have all of us shaking our heads. Despite the catastrophic consequences of the attacks many large New York law firms that were headquartered in the World Trade Center managed to get themselves up and running within just a matter of days. While disruption to lawyers and law firms may seem inconsequential in comparison to the many other tragic results of the attacks, it does offer an important lesson: it is essential that your law firm have a good contingency plan prepared to respond to an emergency or catastrophe.

With luck, a similar disaster will never befall New York, or anywhere else again, but fires, floods, and even earthquakes could be equally disruptive to a law firm. Any one of these could cause missed deadlines, lost documents, and failure to follow through on appropriate legal actions. But a solid plan will leave you feeling confident, not doubtful, about avoiding these kinds of strains to client relationships. And while each contingency plan has to take into account the specifics of the firm, its clients and its practice, there are some basics that ought to be considered.

As you develop your contingency plan, you should cover each of the following seven areas:

1. OFF-SITE DATA BACKUPS
Do you store electronic data backups off premises in a location that is secure and which would be accessible in the event of disaster? Using the bank vault in your office building will do you no good if your office building, including the ground floor bank, is inaccessible to you.

2. INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESTORATION
Do you have a plan for restoring your information systems capability? Most businesses cannot afford an alternate processing site with duplicate sets of hardware and equipment, like the New York Stock Exchange has. However, you can make sure that archival copies of your key programs are stored at an accessible location. While your local vendor will probably be able to replace your computer hardware, it is much harder to replace the software that backs up your data. Archival copies of your programs should be kept in a location just as secure as the location of your duplicate backup tapes.

3. ACTIVE MATTERS
Do you have an accurate inventory of the cases and deals you're handling? Prudence dictates that you maintain working lists of your active projects and the active deadlines associated with them. In years gone by, law practice management practitioners would describe the story of the lawyer who is hit by the proverbial bus and the law firm that scrambles to pick up the pieces of his practice by rummaging through files and scraps of paper on his desk.

Picking up the pieces of your office after disaster strikes requires an accurate and up-to-date inventory of your firm's client matters. You can keep that inventory through case management software or in word processing documents, but it is absolutely mandatory every lawyer and every professional in the firm have such a list and make it available to others. Moreover, this inventory should be included on your backup tapes.

4. CALENDAR BACKUP
Can you recreate your deadlines and tickler dates? If you have an electronic calendaring system, then you should have a backup of that calendaring system stored on your backup tapes at some remote location. If you haven't moved to an electronic docketing system, however, or if your system isn't used firm-wide, do you have a way to recreate the deadlines on various paper calendars should they be destroyed in a fire or other disaster?

5. FINANCIAL RECORDS
Are your financial records safe? A law firm's billed hours and accounts receivable rivals its work in progress in terms of importance. While most lawyers and law firms use electronic record keeping for their time records, it's important they record them in an accessible way. If the water pipes break, flooding your accounting department, will you be able to access that information?

6. NON-ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Do you have duplicate copies of valuable non-electronic records? Where are your personnel files? Are they all stored in a file cabinet in the managing partner's office? What if you need access to health or insurance records or personnel information? Can you get to those records? Do you have duplicates off site or a secure means of storage?

7. COMMUNICATION
Do you have a plan for communication? In times of emergency, it may be important to disseminate information to the lawyers and other professionals in the law office. Do you have a plan for how that communication will occur? Is the necessary information stored in a manner that will remain safe and retrievable?

CONCLUSION
As you continue to reflect on the September 11th events, you should begin your own planning for such a catastrophe if you have not yet done so. Time spent now on this critical task could save your firm should the unthinkable once again become all too real.

About the author:
Arthur Smith is a member of the St. Louis law firm of Husch & Eppenberger, LLC where he chairs the firm's e-Business Practice Group. Art's practice covers the technology spectrum, from copyright and trademark litigation to e-commerce and licensing transactions. Art frequently speaks at professional seminars and educational programs, and served as Co-Chair of the Technology and the Practice of Law Committee of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. You can contact Art via e-mail (arthur.smith@husch.com).

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