Legal Tech Compliance Checklist

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Legal Tech Compliance Checklist

Protect client confidentiality, meet SRA requirements, and prevent conveyancing fraud

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Law firms handle some of the most sensitive data in any industry. Client confidentiality isn't just ethical - it's regulated. This guide covers the IT controls every law firm needs to meet SRA requirements and protect against the growing threat of conveyancing fraud.

12 min

Read Time

Checklist Items

Dec 2025

Last Updated

What's In This Guide

1. SRA Compliance Requirements

2. Email Security & Encryption

3. Document Management Best Practices

4. Mobile Device Management for Partners

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SRA Compliance Requirements

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) requires firms to have adequate systems for managing risks, including cyber security risks.

Key SRA Principles Affecting IT:

•Principle 2: Act with integrity - includes protecting client data

•Principle 6: Behave in a way that maintains public trust

•Code of Conduct 3.4: Effective governance and risk management

What This Means Practically:

•You must have documented IT policies

•Staff must be trained on data protection

•You need incident response procedures

•Regular risk assessments are required

•Client data must be protected in transit and at rest

Evidence You Should Maintain:

•IT security policy (reviewed annually)

•Staff training records

•Incident log (even if no incidents)

•Business continuity plan

•Supplier due diligence records

Action Checklist

Create/update IT security policy document

Critical

Conduct annual staff security training

Critical

Establish incident response procedure

High Priority

Document all IT suppliers and their security measures

Recommended

Schedule annual IT risk assessment

High Priority

Email Security & Encryption

Email is the biggest vulnerability in most law firms. Conveyancing fraud losses exceeded £100 million in 2024, with most attacks starting with email compromise.

The Attack Pattern:

1.Attacker compromises a solicitor's email (phishing or password theft)

2.They monitor conversations, especially regarding completions

3.At the critical moment, they send new bank details "from" the solicitor

4.Client transfers funds to criminal accounts

5.Money is gone within hours

Essential Email Controls:

•Multi-Factor Authentication on all accounts (stops 99% of account takeovers)

•Email encryption for sensitive correspondence

•Warning banners on external emails

•Link scanning (checks URLs in real-time)

•Attachment sandboxing (opens files safely before delivery)

When to Use Encryption:

•Client account details

•Confidential case information

•Settlement agreements

•Anything you wouldn't want intercepted

Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes all these features.

Action Checklist

Enable MFA on all Microsoft 365 accounts

Critical

Configure external email warning banners

High Priority

Set up message encryption for sensitive emails

High Priority

Enable Safe Links and Safe Attachments

Critical

Train staff on Friday afternoon fraud attempts

Most fraud attempts happen before bank holiday weekends

High Priority

Document Management Best Practices

Your Document Management System (DMS) is the backbone of your practice. Whether you use Leap, Clio, iManage, or a simpler solution, these principles apply.

Access Control:

•Implement matter-based permissions (staff only see their matters)

•Separate permissions for partners, associates, and support staff

•Log all document access (who opened what, when)

•Automatic lock-out after inactivity

Version Control:

•Never rely on "Final_v2_FINAL.docx" naming

•Use proper version history (built into most DMS)

•Lock documents during editing to prevent conflicts

•Require check-out for critical documents

Backup & Disaster Recovery:

•Daily backups minimum (hourly for active matters)

•Offsite/cloud backup copy

•Test restores quarterly (can you actually recover files?)

•Document retention policy (how long do you keep closed matters?)

Action Checklist

Review DMS user permissions

High Priority

Enable document access logging

High Priority

Test backup restore procedure

Critical

Document retention policy in writing

Recommended

Train staff on version control procedures

Recommended

Mobile Device Management for Partners

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Legal Tech Compliance Checklist

What's In This Guide

Contents

SRA Compliance Requirements

Key SRA Principles Affecting IT:

What This Means Practically:

Evidence You Should Maintain:

Action Checklist

Email Security & Encryption

The Attack Pattern:

Essential Email Controls:

When to Use Encryption:

Action Checklist

Document Management Best Practices

Access Control:

Version Control:

Backup & Disaster Recovery:

Action Checklist

Mobile Device Management for Partners

Premium Content

Ready to Implement?

Related Resources

Signal for Help

Send a Signal