In the aftermath of the ransomware attack on DLA Piper, many legal departments may be reviewing their outside counsel’s security protections, not just in terms of the technology their firms have, but also the processes and policies they put in place. Such cybersecurity best practices, however, are often not codified in legal departments’ outside counsel guidelines, according to a Gartner and Wolters Kluwer report.
Titled “Unlock Insights Into Outside Counsel Billing and Staffing Guidelines,” the report analyzed the results of a survey of 51 legal departments at various mid- to large-sized global corporations. The report found that of the 75 percent of respondents that had outside counsel guidelines in place, only 31 percent had guidelines that included formal data security requirements.
