How to Make Sure Your Work from Home Wi-Fi Router is Secure

Are you one who tries to see that all work-related servers, computers, mobile devices, and cloud-based apps are properly secured, but don’t always put the same effort into all your personal devices and accounts? If so, you’re not alone; and my guess is if you’re reading this post you have given little thought to securing one very important personal device, which is the wireless router in your home. Read on….

Why You Don’t Get It Both Ways with Of Counsel Relationships

Sometimes a call comes in that I feel compelled to write about and this is one of those times. The question seemed simple enough. Basically, the callers wanted to know if the fact that a solo attorney was going to be added to their firm website as Of Counsel solely for marketing purposes would have any impact on their malpractice insurance premium. Well, as a risk guy, I couldn’t help it. I needed to know more. In response to a few follow-up questions of my own, I learned the following.

The Importance of Taking Care of Yourself

The best risk management advice I will ever have to offer is simply this. Don’t ever forget to take care of yourself. I know it sounds simple; but for so many, it isn’t easy. I really do believe that taking this advice to heart can not only make a world of difference in every lawyer’s personal and profession life, it can also be an effective risk management tool.

Is Soliciting Crowdfunded Donations for Payment of Fees a Good Idea?

While crowdfunding models vary, there are primarily two general approaches. One is an investment model where the contributor invests funds in exchange for some kind of benefit. The other model is the donation approach, where the donor has no expectation of a return or benefit, and this is the model I’m going to discuss.

Let’s start with a potential client who has no ability to cover your fees. Would it be ethically permissible to solicit donations through a crowdfunding source as a way to have your fees paid?

Is Texting Clients A Good Idea? Maybe, Maybe Not.

Texting is ubiquitous in our culture, which makes it too easy to embrace that reality by texting day and night regardless of the setting just like everyone else does. The question I’d like to ask is this. Is doing so a good thing, particularly for a lawyer? Remember recent rule changes. Comment 8 to ABA Model Rule 1.1 Competency reminds lawyers that they are to “keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice to include the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.” If you are communicating with clients via text messaging, have you thought about the ramifications of doing so?

I Know Cyber Security is a Headache. Do It Anyway.

A few weeks ago, I had one of those days. You know, a day where things just don’t seem to make much sense. The day started out with a training session on ransomware. Unfortunately, as such programs are apt to do, it made me start to think that selling everything I have, disconnecting from the wired world, and moving to some remote island where I could live out my life selling tapas on the beach might be a really good idea. I suspect more than a few of you might have responded similarly.

Anyway, what got me going was learning about one of the new business models hackers have come up with. In short, after a computer or network is breached and the data encrypted, hackers are starting to offer their victims two choices instead of the normal one, which was to pay the ransom amount in order to obtain the decryption key and get their files back. Now the victim can either pay the ransom or they can help spread the ransomware by sharing a malicious link with two people they know. If those two unsuspecting folks become infected and pay the ransom within seven days, then the initial victim would receive the decryption key and be able to recover their files for free. Now isn’t this a heartwarming development.

Try Not To Be a Patsy, Seriously

A patsy is a person who is easily taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something. So, for example, when I look at how successful social engineering as a cybercrime tool is these days, it certainly seems like there are a lot of patsies out there. Here are a few stories about attorneys who were patsies that help explain why I feel the way I do.

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