Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/74024
www.iltanet.org A project sponsor (or committee) should be identified to oversee the deployment and make key decisions. Controlling People's Access At the core of a confidentiality initiative lies the simple act of restricting access to sensitive material, but inherent in that simple act is great complexity. This task quickly highlights the competing tension within every firm to balance the interests of lawyers in accessing information easily for productivity and knowledge management with increasing requirements to limit access to fewer people. In order to put effective access restrictions in place, more is required than simply securing information in a firm's electronic repositories. Lawyers and secretaries should be notified of their confidentiality obligations in particular scenarios and, particularly for audit purposes, should acknowledge that they understand these duties. In addition, there should be mechanisms in place to ensure that the appropriate members of staff are granted access to information throughout the matter lifecycle when required. Physical separation and sufficient protection of printed information is also a requirement in certain circumstances. Given the increasing size of law firms and the complexity of confidentiality requirements in the modern practice of law, ad hoc measures cannot effectively scale, which is why firms turn to software to automate these enforcement and management processes. Once a firm has decided to invest in a technical solution to assist with the management of information 22 ILTA White Paper barriers, what are the considerations to take into account when implementing a new system effectively? Coordinating the People Related to Projects Gone are the days when introducing new software at a firm was simply a technical matter. Today, new software initiatives are often driven by business stakeholders seeking benefits like improved efficiency, productivity or revenue. And when such ambitions underlie a project, its scope often requires wider change to a firm's policies, processes and working practices. Accordingly, a manager in charge of a confidentiality project has to understand the business goals and make provisions for: • Securing buy-in and engagement from a variety of stakeholders, including risk, IT and business personnel • Analyzing existing policies and working practices with a view to building a plan that includes implementing necessary changes • Acting as an owner and advocate for the success of the project, including internal communications with management and training