If you're a Mac-using lawyer, Apple's recently released OS X Lion has a new feature that single-handedly makes the upgrade worth the $29 price of admission.

FileVault 2 enables whole-disk encryption for OS X Lion computers with just a few clicks of the mouse. Whole disk encryption ensures the contents of your drive are only readable when you provide a valid username / password combination to the operating system. This means your entire computer's hard drive will be encrypted, and thus unreadable, should it fall into the wrong hands.

I consider whole disk encryption a best practice for all lawyers, regardless of whether they happen to be using a desktop or laptop computer. Laptops, however, are at especially high risk of loss and/or theft, and should therefore always employ whole disk encryption.

Matthew Bookspan has an excellent write-up on how to enable FileVault 2 on Mac OS X Lion over on the MacLawyer blog. If you're a Windows user, consider using the free, open-source TrueCrypt software for whole disk encryption.

Jack Newton is co-founder and President of Clio, a leading provider of cloud-based practice management software. Jack writes frequently on the security, ethical, and practical aspects of cloud computing, and has spoken at CLE seminars across Canada and the U.S. about how practice management systems can be used to help a lawyer practice efficiently, ethically and competently. Jack can be reached at jack@goclio.com.
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