Whenever attorneys, paralegals, other support staff, or systems create, access, or transfer sensitive information, legal organizations have a responsibility to protect it using effective data security strategies. Attorneys have a professional duty to protect the sensitive information of their clients. It is a professional rule of conduct cited by the American Bar Association (ABA) (rule 1.6 Confidentiality of Information) and state bar associations.
As stated clearly by the ABA’s Rule 1.6(2), “a fundamental principle in the client-lawyer relationship is that, in the absence of the client’s informed consent, the lawyer must not reveal information relating to the representation.”
The best way to protect information that is critical to your firm is to encrypt documents with a persistent, dynamic security policy. This protects the security and privacy of files while on your computer, in the cloud, on your mobile device, and in use.
By dynamically validating user access and permissions each time someone opens a document ensures you do not violate ABA rules and minimizes the possibility of a data breach. If an unauthorized person gets your document, it’s useless to them, since they can’t read the information inside without your express permission.