The pillars of digital security: How to ethically use technology in legal practice

Many lawyers lack the time to learn about technology in legal practice. But those same lawyers must make professional decisions about technology right now. Those decisions must be sensible, reasonable, and defensible. The idea for the book started several years ago when a crop of new lawyers (and some not so new) began asking me: Is it ethical to use email? smartphones? iPads? Dropbox? Evernote? iCloud? Facebook? Over many sandwiches and lots of coffee, I asked my colleagues to imagine explaining why their use of technology caused their client harm. Then I asked them to imagine an angry client testifying against them at a disciplinary tribunal or court. What are you going to say? What evidence are you going to tender? Sensible, reasonable, and defensible decisions must withstand a trial. Patterns appeared from those discussions, other conversations with several dozen colleagues around the world interested in technology, and talks with computer scientists who worked with judges and lawyers every day. I started writing all this down, taught it, tested it, published it, listened to feedback, refined it—and, several years later, we now have a book. Written by a busy lawyer for other busy lawyers, I hope I have made a practical guide to using—and overseeing others using—technology in legal practice. The book’s step-by-step guides have been used successfully by hundreds of lawyers and dozens of judges in Australia and the United States who know little or nothing about technology. The book makes life easier in several ways: 1. You can read the quick-start guide—in just a single hour of your time—to address the most common and easiest-to-fix ethical pitfalls 2. You can read the entire book from cover to cover in only a few hours 3. I have used language understood by both lawyers and the computer scientists who give them IT support, making it easy to explain what you want to be done by handing over a little book while saying “Read this,” and 4. My focus on 7 discrete topics—the pillars of digital security—creates a method for lawyers and computer scientists to work together effectively. Every lawyer has a unique way of working, refined and polished over years. It is essential that be left undisturbed. The greatest task before civilization at present is to make machines what they ought to be: the slaves, instead of the masters. The book is available in 2 formats, traditional paperback and new eBook, whose contents are slightly different. Sometimes it’s better and quicker to show pictures than explaining in words. And sometimes it’s better and quicker to show moving pictures than static diagrams. The eBook version makes it easy to see with your own eyes what I am talking about because the eBook version has embedded hyperlinks which allow you to press your finger on an underlined word or phrase and immediately see motion pictures. The paperback lets you see all this too, but instead of pressing a finger on the page you need to type the reference into an Internet browser. The author has over 20 years of litigation experience investigating, prosecuting, and defending other lawyers charged with ethical violations, malpractice, and professional negligence. He has held senior positions in bar associations while exercising responsibility for enforcement of professional regulations and continuing legal education. In addition to his private practice, he has extensively taught lawyers and judges about technology in legal practice. This book distils the author’s unique experience of the classroom, the boardroom room, and the courtroom.