Lawyers Should Probably Smash The $#!% Out Of Their Smartphones When Done With Them

If you're going to use a digital device, then you need to know how to make sure your old one is wiped clean -- really clean -- before you get a new one.

Despite our living in a time where every little tech company vehemently tries to convince people that it is the next unicorn that is going to fundamentally change the face of business, there is actually very little technology that is absolutely world-changing. Most technology companies rise and fall without ever being a blip on anyone’s radar.

Yet one piece of technology that has changed businesses worldwide is the smartphone. A little computer, wirelessly connected to the internet, that we carry around all the time. Starting with the now hopelessly-out-of-date BlackBerry (which even Lat gave up on), lawyers were quick to adopt smartphones as they allowed lawyers to be immediately responsive to clients (there’s an argument that it has allowed them to be too responsive).

Big firm or small, many lawyers now live off their mobile devices. It’s actually become a common refrain now amongst those who dispense advice to lawyers looking to strike out on their own: “All you need to start a law firm is your smartphone!” Smartphones have become as common in law firms as legal pads.

Due to how reliant law firms have become on smartphones, they go through them on a regular basis. Not quite as often as legal pads, but lawyers get new smartphones like clockwork. Got to have the newest, shiniest, fastest toy in order to stand out from the crowd.

But what happens to the old phone?

It probably depends on the size of your firm. Big firms (should) have enterprise level solutions for handling of old devices. Smaller firms likely do not. In fact, many smaller firms probably interweave personal and business devices, allowing individual lawyers to handle their own upgrade path. That means many lawyers likely just trade their old phones in. Maybe they restore their phones to default factory settings (I know, I’m being generous).

But if lawyers are using these devices, specifically because they enable them to do client work on the fly, what about all the client data on the device?

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Recently, Blancco Technology Group and Kroll Ontrack conducted a study on data security used in mobile devices and hard drives. They bought second-hand devices in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K. to see what data they could find on these devices. The results?

Over one third of mobile devices still had residual data on them. A total of 2,153 emails and 10,838 text/SMS/instant messages were retrieved from the devices. Perhaps even more troubling is that 57 percent of the devices with residual data had a deletion attempt made on them. So even when people were attempting to make sure that they had wiped their old devices clean, they weren’t doing a good job of it.

For lawyers, whose phones are bulging with reams of confidential client information, this should be disturbing. You have a duty to clients to protect their information. And while that doesn’t mean you have to be a technical savant, it does mean that you need to be competent when it comes to securing your digital devices.

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If you’re in a large firm, that means your IT department better have policies and procedures in place for securely wiping and disposing of old devices. At smaller firms, that means individual lawyers need to be aware of the steps needed to securely wipe a device. This applies to any digital devices that store client information (hard drives, tablets, etc).

If you’re going to use a digital device (i.e., everyone), then you need to know how to make sure your old one is wiped clean before you get a new one.

Quick and easy answer: Will It Blend?


Keith Lee practices law at Hamer Law Group, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama. He writes about professional development, the law, the universe, and everything at Associate’s Mind. He is also the author of The Marble and The Sculptor: From Law School To Law Practice (affiliate link), published by the ABA. You can reach him at keith.lee@hamerlawgroup.com or on Twitter at @associatesmind.

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