Why law firm IT has to be tighter
Law firms hold high-value, highly regulated information for clients who expect, and the SRA increasingly requires, properly defensible IT controls. Lawyer-client privilege isn’t an abstraction; it’s a real obligation that has IT implications. Business email compromise targeted at law firms is a known, specific attack pattern. Conflicts of interest sometimes require information barriers that are robust, not aspirational.
The standard managed IT setup for a generic SMB doesn’t quite cut it. Law firms need the same fundamentals (Microsoft 365 properly configured, security genuinely tight, backup tested) plus a layer of specifically-designed controls, defensible audit trails, retention policies aligned to legal hold requirements, identity protection for partners, and the documentation that lets you point to evidence rather than describe what you do.
What my work for law firms typically covers
Case management integration. LEAP, Clio, Proclaim, the platforms themselves are mature, but the integration with Microsoft 365, with email, with document signing, and with time tracking is where most of the IT work sits.
Secure document exchange. SharePoint configured for client document libraries, with properly scoped guest access for client teams, audit logging, and Information Protection labels for the most sensitive content. Replacing the email-attachment-everywhere norm with a defensible, auditable system.
Email security at law-firm threat level. Properly configured authentication, Defender for Office 365 with the right policies, conditional access on partner accounts. Combined with documented procedural controls (verbal verification on bank-detail changes, separation of duties on completion funds), this is what stops business email compromise from landing.
Time recording and billing. Time captured in one place, integrated with case management and billing, with the friction stripped out enough that fee earners actually use it consistently. Most law firms have time-recording leakage that adds up to real revenue.
SRA-aligned controls and documentation. MFA, retention, audit, backup, identity, conditional access, implemented and documented in a way that holds up to a SRA review or to a major-client due diligence questionnaire. The work isn’t usually in whether the controls exist but in whether the evidence does.
Information barriers where required. SharePoint and M365 designed and implemented to support strict separation of teams or matters where conflicts of interest demand it, without making day-to-day work painful for the rest of the firm.