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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

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Freeths—Rachel Crosier

Projects and rail practices strengthened by director hire in London

Bird & Bird—Gordon Moir

Bird & Bird—Gordon Moir

London tech and comms team boosted by telecoms and regulatory hires

DWF—Stephen Hickling

DWF—Stephen Hickling

Real estate team in Birmingham welcomes back returning partner

NEWS
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
Criminal juries may be convicting—or acquitting—on a misunderstanding. Writing in NLJ this week Paul McKeown, Adrian Keane and Sally Stares of The City Law School and LSE report troubling survey findings on the meaning of ‘sure’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has narrowly preserved a key weapon in its anti-corruption arsenal. In this week's NLJ, Jonathan Fisher KC of Red Lion Chambers examines Guralp Systems Ltd v SFO, in which the High Court ruled that a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) remained in force despite the company’s failure to disgorge £2m by the stated deadline
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
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