Some law firms and agencies are facing a very challenging and frightening time at present. A number of immigration providers, in particular, have found themselves the potential target for violent protest. David Gilmore, DG Legal, offers some advice for law firms.
We are told that names and addresses have even been shared online as a list of targets for further protest and violence in the coming days. This is so shocking and we are appalled by this attack on the legal profession in particular. For you and your clients and those you work with to be especially targeted beggars belief.
We will continue to encourage the representative bodies to offer support.
Certainly, we are aware that the Law Society has been lobbying the government on behalf of the profession and hope that some action is taken by the authorities. However, more must be done. In the meantime and without any clear feeling that this terrible situation is in any way under control, lawyers will be considering what they can do to protect themselves and their businesses in the coming days.
As a profession, lawyers have encountered many threats over the years and strength comes partly from a determination to act for the greater good and by acting together to counter those threats. Even if you are not personally encountering threats, we hope that you may consider if there is anything you could do to offer support to those who are. There is always the potential for businesses to reach out to each other in the coming days to offer practical support as much as anything else.
If you feel that there is a valid threat to those working in your offices then you may feel you can take some practical steps to work from home or another safer space.
To the extent that you maintain any form of business continuity plan or recovery plan then this may already give you a wealth of information to help you plan for a move of your operations away from your offices in the short or longer term. If you don’t maintain one, then the key is to determine what you need to do to be able to continue your business including legal work, as well as vitally important administrative functions, such as accounting and payroll.
Some areas which you may wish to consider include:
Protecting people
The priority for any business facing such a threat will undoubtedly be on protecting their staff and clients. You may need to take more urgent steps to ensure people are in a safer environment such as working from home or another place. Any clients that were due to attend your offices may better be served remotely.
It may be that other areas in which you would commonly attend as part of your practice including courts and tribunals could be targeted and so do fully assess the risk of personal attendance at any venue.
Protecting buildings
Physical steps to secure buildings such as window boarding and additional locks could be deployed if there is a means to do so. Depending on the potential risk to your offices and the limited time you may have to take action, it may not be entirely possible to mitigate against all loss and the key will be on trying to secure, protect or remove those aspects which are vital to the business and would be harder to replace.
You may have links with other firms in other safer areas or who are not especially facing a similar level of threat and we would hope that legal businesses offer lifelines to each other to support them through it – whether by storing assets, using conference rooms for urgent matters or similar.
Protecting data & assets
Aside from attempting to physically secure the building, which may or may not be effective, you may need to consider how best to protect any vital assets in the building. In particular, you need to determine the extent to which your confidential information (whether in paper form or cloud based) could be compromised and what steps might be needed not only to protect them but also that you have access to them during any period of unrest or inability to access your building(s). This will include casefiles and other documents or files that may contain personal data such as staff and accounting records.
IT & telecoms
In a similar way to how you may have dealt with the Covid lockdown, you may need temporary means to function remotely and you may need to consider if there are any steps you can take to help staff to continue to serve clients in the shorter term whilst you take stock about any longer term impact on your business.
Insurance
You should obtain copies of your policies and ensure they are accessible at all times. Depending on the policy, you may need to alert the insurer to possible qualifying events and potential claims. Take independent advice from your broker if needed to ensure that the steps you take now are in accordance with your insurance and would not jeopardise a future claim.
Further support
Do not hesitate in contacting the Police and/or other agencies should you feel there is an immediate threat to you or others. Reach out to other local businesses where you can as there will be many who would want to show support and solidarity. You absolutely should not have to endure this alone.
If you feel that DG Legal can offer any support or practical advice then please don’t hesitate in contacting us.
Please do take care of yourselves.
David Gilmore is the Director of DG Legal.
