Planning Ahead Handbook

89 Pages·2016·0.48 MB·English

THE LAW FIRM GUIDE TO
Disaster Planning
& Recovery
Protecting Your Firm and Your Clients
From the Unexpected

The Law Firm Guide to
DISASTER PLANNING
& RECOVERY
Protecting Your Firm
and Your Clients
From the Unexpected
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The Law Firm Guide to
Disaster Planning & Recovery
Protecting Your Firm and Your Clients
From the Unexpected
© 2020 by the Washington State Bar Association
Product of the WSBA’s Practice Management Assistance Program
www.wsba.org/pma
1325 4th Avenue, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98101-2539
If you have any questions about this resource, please contact us at
[email protected] or schedule a consultation at www.wsba.org/consult.
REPRODUCTION
For permission to reproduce or redistribute, please contact the WSBA at pma@
wsba.org. The WSBA reserves the right to withhold permission.
DISCLAIMER
The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) provides this guide for infor-
mational purposes only; the WSBA does not warrant the information provided
with regard to accuracy or any other purpose. No endorsement is intended. The
information contained herein does not constitute legal advice or legal opinions.
You are responsible for ensuring your own legal and ethical compliance. Any use
of the materials herein is not a defense against discipline, a malpractice claim,
or other legal proceeding. This guide does not modify the rules, statutes, and
regulations set by the federal government, state legislature, Washington Supreme
Court, or the Bylaws and policies of the WSBA, or confer any additional rights.
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Contents
Introduction ..............................................1
Learning Objectives ....................................1
Is This Guide for Me? ...................................2
Your Professional Responsibility to Prepare for Disasters .....3
General Best Practices for Risk Mitigation ...................5
Record Keeping ........................................5
Business Continuity Plan ................................8
Designate a Custodian .................................10
TL;DR ...................................................13
Additional Resources .....................................14
Frequently Asked Questions ...........................14
WSBA Member Resources .............................15
External Resources ....................................16
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Introduction
UNEXPECTED EVENTS can severely affect your ability to provide
legal services. The risk includes events that affect your health,
such as accidents or illness, but it can also include events
that affect your working space or the technology you use to handle
client information.
These written materials will help you (1) identify the common areas
where solo and small firm licensed legal professionals run into trouble;
(2) mitigate both the risk and the impact of disasters, by using good
prevention techniques; and (3) address disasters when they do occur.
By the end of reviewing this material, you should have enough infor-
mation to begin changing your law firm management practices so that
you are better prepared.
Learning Objectives
This resource will cover the following topics:
y Your professional responsibility for disaster planning.
y Business continuity plans and why you should have one.
y Best practices for mitigating the impact of unexpected events.
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Is This Guide for Me?
WHAT IT INVOLVES:
Unexpected disasters can impact your business operations and your
ability to deliver legal services. Potential causes include unexpected
illness or a health crisis, cyber attacks or data breaches, natural disasters,
and other disruptive events that impact your business or the community
at large.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG:
Without a strategy or process in place to mitigate the effects of these
events, you can lose time, money, and resources trying to recover from
an event. You may even become the subject of discipline, or vulnerable
to malpractice claims if your failure to prepare causes harm to a client.
YOU’RE VULNERABLE IF:
y You do not have a business continuity plan.
y You do not maintain a viable back-up for data.
y You have not designated someone to take over if you
are incapacitated.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
y Keep backups of case files, key contact information, and deadlines.
y Develop a written protocol for addressing unexpected events. 
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Your Professional
Responsibility to
Prepare for Disasters
LICENSED LEGAL PROFESSIONALS in Washington State have a duty
to competently represent their clients.1 This duty includes an
oblig ation to make arrangements to safeguard your clients’
interests if you are suddenly unable to practice, whether due to events
affecting you or your practice.
Acting Diligently and Promptly
Rule 1.3 of the Washington Supreme Court’s Rules of Professional
Conduct (RPC) requires that licensed legal professionals act with
“reasonable diligence and promptness” when representing a client.2
Comment 3 acknowledges that “unreasonable delay can cause a client
needless anxiety and undermine confidence in the lawyer’s trustwor-
thiness.” This is true in cases where you or your office is impacted by
an unexpected disaster for which you are not prepared. Without an
adequate business recovery plan, your clients may experience delays
and gaps in communication that impact client satisfaction. Even worse,
you may miss important deadlines while you struggle to return to busi-
ness as usual.
Communication
RPC Rule 1.4 requires that you keep clients promptly and reasonably
informed about the status of their matter.3 If you or your office is severely
impacted by a disaster you may struggle to keep clients reasonably
informed. This issue can be exacerbated if you lose access to important
documents or information.
1 See RPC Rule 1.1., et seq., or, for Limited Licensed Legal Technicians, LLLT
RPC Rule 1.1, et seq.
2 RPC Rule 1.3, or, for Limited Licensed Legal Technicians, LLLT RPC Rule 1.3.
3 RPC Rule 1.4, or, for Limited Licensed Legal Technicians, LLLT RPC Rule 1.4.
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Confidentiality
Under RPC Rule 1.6, you cannot reveal information related to a client
without their consent.4 This means that you need to take reasonable
precautions to protect confidential information from inadvertent disclo-
sure. This includes securing your physical location (locking file cabinets,
etc.) and securing electronic information.
Document Retention
RPC Rules 1.15A and 1.15B require that you maintain records and docu-
mentation related to trust accounts and property for at least seven years.5
If an unexpected disaster occurs and you lose those records, you could
be the subject of discipline or vulnerable to client malpractice claims. 
4 RPC Rule 1.6, or, for Limited Licensed Legal Technicians, LLLT RPC Rule 1.6.
5 RPC Rule 1.15A, or, for Limited Licensed Legal Technicians, LLLT RPC Rule
1.15A; RPC Rule 1.15B, or, for Limited Licensed Legal Technicians, LLLT RPC
Rule 1.15B.
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