ILTSO Tackles on-Premise, Cloud and Mobile Legal Technology Standards

Standards for on-premise, cloud and mobile technologies used by lawyers have, to-date, been lacking. While an abundance of recommendations, best practices and other guidelines have been issues by Bar Associations and other organizations, there has not been a single, comprehensive document lawyers could look to for clear guidance on what minimal standards should be adhered for on-premise, cloud and mobile technologies.

The International Legal Technology Standards Organization (ILTSO) aims to change that. ILTSO is a non-profit organization consisting of attorneys, bar association representatives, IT professionals, and business leaders with a stated mission of “helping attorneys and clients better understand the practical and ethical implications of technology for the practice of law”.

Today at the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago, ILTSO released a draft set of standards encompassing on-premise, cloud and mobile technologies. With the initial draft 2011 standards published, ILTSO will now begin accepting feedback from vendors, practicing attorneys, state bars and other stakeholders in legal technology standards.

The proposed standards fills tremendous void in the legal technology space. To date, lawyers have not had a single standard set to look to that address the spectrum of security- and privacy- related concerns that need to be addressed for their on-premise computers, mobile devices, and cloud services. Law Societies and Bar Associations have also been in need of such a document. Draft ethics opinions on cloud computing and other technologies, such as the North Carolina Bar Association’s Proposed Formal Ethics Opinion on cloud computing, reference the need for a broadly recognized set of best practices relating to technology; prior to ILTSO, no such document existed.

I’m proud to be part of the team that has produced the first set of ILTSO standards – give the draft a read, and let us know what you think. An essential component of the ILTSO standard is that it will be continually evolving, updated with the latest best practices and recommendations on a yearly basis; it is a living document, and will be iterated and improved upon based upon feedback from people like you.

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