Login
What to know before putting client data in the cloud
Research from CLOC has outlined how best legal services providers should gain permission to place their clients’ data in the cloud.
Jerome Doraisamy
According to the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) Could Survey, three-quarters of corporate counsel (75 per cent) feel that legal services providers should seek approval before placing their clients’ data into the cloud.
Several respondents felt that the provider should obtain amended engagement letters before client data can be placed in the cloud, however, it was ceded that executing and collecting such amended letters from thousands of clients are “daunting tasks” for legal service providers.
When asked how legal service providers should ask for permission, more than half (56 per cent) said send an engagement letter amendment, 16 per cent said send an email to the government contractor with a link to a web form that allows that contractor to object, 9 per cent said to send a physical letter that includes an email address for the government contractor to object, and one in five (19 per cent) said “other”.
“For legal service providers, an effective solution may include evaluating their known client data requirements, addressing any major concerns, sending out a notification to the remaining clients, and then allowing the clients to object via a web form,” CLOC wrote.
“If there is an objection, given enough time, the two organisations should be able to reach a consensus on how to move forward.”
In the same survey, CLOC found that 82 per cent of corporate legal teams and businesses allow their data to be stored in the cloud by a legal service provider, with an additional 6 per cent saying they are planning to allow legal service providers to host data in the cloud. Just 12 per cent said they do not allow for cloud-stored data.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
You can email Jerome at:
