Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/21725
This was the first FEO in North America to explicitly deal with the use of SaaS/cloud computing in a law firm. While the proposed FEO ultimately endorses the use of cloud computing technology in a law firm provided that “reasonable care is taken effectively to minimize the risks to the confidentiality and to the security of client information and client files,” the onus of evaluating a cloud provider’s security infrastructure is placed on the law firm. CLOUD COMPUTING Cloud computing is computing delivered as a service over the Internet, with less need for software on your desktop computer. Increasingly, it will matter less and less which computer you use to do your work: your documents, e-mail messages, pictures, and all other types of information, will be stored and securely accessed online. The shift to cloud-based services typically offers increased security and dramatically reduced overhead and IT costs as compared to on- premises servers and software. While much of the concept of practicing in the cloud may seem novel, most Web-savvy computer users have been using cloud-based technologies for a number of years via longstanding services such as Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo Mail, among others. These technologies were among the first to pioneer the idea of centralized services delivered efficiently over the Web, and they have succeeded in laying the groundwork for a software revolution that is gradually leading most applications to evolve toward a Web- based mode of delivery. BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING The benefits of moving traditional desktop- and server-based applications to the cloud are numerous for firms of all sizes. Cloud-based services typically eliminate large up-front licensing and server costs, offer drastically reduced consulting and installation fees, and do away with the “upgrade treadmill” usually associated with traditional desktop- and server-based software. Cloud-based services also offer “anywhere accessibility,” a high level of ease- of-use, and compatibility with both Windows and Mac OS X. ETHICS OF CLOUD COMPUTING In the context of a law firm, cloud computing raises concerns associated with entrusting a third party with confidential client data. Alice Neece Mine, Executive Assistant Director of the North Carolina State Bar, outlines the primary concerns in the proposed FEO (2010 FEO 7): SaaS for law firms may involve the storage of a law firm’s data, including client files, billing information, and work product, on remote servers rather than on the law firm’s own computer and, therefore, outside the direct control of the firm’s lawyers. Given the duty to safeguard confidential client information, including protecting that information from unauthorized disclosure, the duty to protect client property from destruction, degradation or loss (whether from system failure, natural disaster, or dissolution of a vendor’s business), and the continuing need to retrieve client data in a form that is usable outside of the vendor’s product, may a law firm use SaaS? www.iltanet.org ILTA’s Greatest Hits 39