Legal Research

Subscribing to Software as a Service While Fulfilling the Duties of Confidentiality and Preservation of Client Property

By jlutz99

The North Carolina State Bar has issued a proposed 2010 Formal Ethics Opinion on cloud computing and other issues that have to do with the electronic storage of confidential client information.  Here's an excerpt:  

Proposed opinion rules that a law firm may contract with a vendor of software as a service provided the risks that confidential client information may be disclosed or lost are effectively minimized.

Inquiry #1:

Much of software development, including the specialized software used by lawyers for case/practice management, document management, and billing/financial management, is moving to the "software as a service" (SaaS) model. In the article "Software as a Service (SaaS) Definition and Solutions," Meridith Levinson, writing for the CIO website, explains SaaS as follows:

Generally speaking, it's software that's developed and hosted by the SaaS vendor and which the end user customer accesses over the Internet. Unlike traditional packaged applications that users install on their computers or servers, the SaaS vendor owns the software and runs it on computers in its data center. The customer does not own the software but effectively rents it, usually for a monthly fee.1 

The Opinion goes on to state that Law Firms may use SaaS "provided steps are taken to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of confidential client information...."  Further guidelines are provided.

Read the Opinion here.

Posted by Jon Lutz

Full post as published by FSU College of Law Library Blog on August 12, 2010 (boomark / email).