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14 May 2009 / Roman Marszalek
Issue: 7369 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession , Data protection
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Fear of failure

Roman Marszalek explains why it's worth keeping technology on your side

In a working environment that has becoming increasingly high tech, competitive and credit crunched, the room for error is non-existent. What does this mean for lawyers relying on technology to do their jobs? How does this affect the processes put in place to protect vital information?

Franklin D Roosevelt's inaugural address during the depths of the depression is being re-quoted almost daily. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he said. Motivating during our current economic misery, but I can't help thinking “that's a man without a machine to worry about.”

Technology runs through every aspect of daily life and when time is taken to manage it well it can make the impossible schedule, the enormous workload, the requisite research manageable. But when the pressure is on, it's often the last thing on anyone's mind. Promises to back up are forgotten, policies to avoid the use of flashdrives ignored, best practice to ban saving onto inaccessible laptops seems

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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