Contract management. Compliance updates. Discovery responses. Intellectual property portfolio management. These rote, often-time-consuming tasks can all be part of an in-house counsel’s day-to-day schedule.
The pressure on General Counsels (GCs) and in-house legal teams is rising as corporations globally deal with an increase in legal workload, due to a host of factors including regulatory shakeups, business expansions, and evolving markets. A practical solution many companies have turned to is outsourcing to contract lawyers, an effective means to manage the burgeoning demand while maintaining cost efficiency.
However, as practicable as this solution may appear, it also presents significant data security risks which GCs must address to ensure the security of privileged information and corporate data. Here are four key data security considerations for GCs when engaging contract lawyers:
- Data Access: It’s essential to establish clear-cut protocols about what data the contract lawyers can access. Not all information needs to be accessible to contract attorneys. Strict access controls can significantly mitigate this risk.
- Data Transfer: Data often has to be transferred to contract lawyers. It’s crucial to ensure this is done securely via encrypted and secure channels, reducing chances of breaches during transit.
- Data Storage: Contract lawyers often store data on their systems, both during and after a case. GCs must ascertain whether these storage systems are secure and compliant with necessary regulations.
- Data Degradation: After a case is closed, sensitive information left over in files and folders can become a security risk. Contract lawyers should have stringent data degradation policies in place to destroy sensitive data responsibly.
Outsourcing to contract lawyers can indeed be an effective strategy for handling high-volume, time-consuming tasks. Yet, without robust data security measures in place, the risks could outweigh the benefits. Therefore, GCs while opting for such solutions must revisit the data security measures, assuring the safety and security of sensitive, privileged information and maintaining the trust of the stakeholder community they serve.