Secure document and matter systems

Lawyers' duty of confidentiality does not change because files moved to the cloud. The Law Society of Ontario's commentary to rule 3.1-2 links technological competence to the duty to protect confidential information, and the Law Society of British Columbia's cloud computing checklist sets out practical questions for firms storing client information with third parties.

In practice, confidentiality failures in law firm systems are rarely dramatic hacks. They are a summer student who can open every matter, a departed associate's account still active, a 'share with anyone' link sent to a client two years ago and still live, or no record of who opened a sensitive file. Each is a configuration problem, and each can be fixed.

An ethical wall (sometimes called an information barrier or screen) keeps people with a conflict away from a matter. It is only as strong as the system that enforces it. We design permissions around matters, not around departments, and apply walls in the systems where documents and communications actually live.

If a client or the Law Society asks who accessed a file, the firm should be able to answer from records, not recollection. We confirm that the DMS records views, edits, downloads, shares and deletions; that Microsoft Purview Audit is enabled for SharePoint, OneDrive and Exchange; and that retention is long enough. Microsoft's documentation states that Audit (Standard) keeps records for 180 days, with longer retention available through Audit (Premium) licensing and audit retention policies.

We also set up alerts for unusual activity on restricted matters, such as bulk downloads or access by someone outside the matter team.

Firms need to keep closed files for defined periods and then dispose of them reliably. Retention requirements come from Law Society rules, tax and trust accounting obligations, limitation periods and client agreements; the firm sets the schedule, and the systems enforce it.

In Microsoft 365 that usually means retention labels or policies in Microsoft Purview applied to matter sites and mailboxes, with disposition review so a person confirms before anything is deleted. A litigation hold must be able to override disposition, so retention design and hold procedures are planned together.

• A file-closing checklist that captures final documents, removes external sharing and applies the retention label
• Disposition review for files reaching the end of retention
• A record of what was destroyed and when

Email attachments are still the default for sending documents to clients, and they are the hardest to control once sent. A client portal or controlled sharing from SharePoint or the DMS lets the firm set expiry dates, require the recipient to authenticate, and see who downloaded what.

• Disable or restrict 'Anyone with the link' sharing for client matters
• Require external recipients to verify their identity
• Set default expiry on shared links
• Apply sensitivity labels that encrypt documents leaving the firm where appropriate
• Review and remove stale external sharing at file closing

Most firms do not need a new system; they need the one they have configured properly. A review covers:

1. 01

   Inventory

   Where client documents and communications are stored, including the places nobody mentions at first, such as personal OneDrive folders and old file shares.

2. 02

   Permissions

   Who can access what, with a focus on restricted matters, former staff and guest accounts.

3. 03

   Sharing and logging

   External sharing settings, live links, and whether audit trails would answer an access question.

4. 04

   Retention

   Whether retention and disposition match the firm's schedule, and how holds would interact.

5. 05

   Report and fixes

   Prioritized findings, then remediation by your IT team or ours.