Planning for Disaster and Recovery is NOT
Optional
Planning what to do in the event of a natural or
human disaster is imperative to protect your staff, clients, work
product, and physical office and equipment. Here are some steps to take
before an unexpected disaster hits.
by Ross Kodner
THE TRAGIC EVENTS of Sept. 11 will not soon fade in our
collective memory. Of the multitude of businesses affected by the
destruction of the World Trade Center, many were law firms.
What happens when a law firm suddenly not only has no office, but has
no computer systems, no network, no Internet access, no furniture, no
office equipment, and no telephones other than cell phones? What happens
to pending cases and clients? What happens when confidential client
information is destroyed?
Disaster recovery is hardly a new concept for Americans. In
Wisconsin, attorneys and others still are recovering from the recent
floods in the Siren area. And who can forget the destruction of human
life and property caused by the Barneveld tornado? Still, no situation
could ever drill home the need for disaster planning and system
redundancy more than what so many experienced on Sept. 11.
Disaster Recovery Action Steps
In order to recover from a disaster, you must have the mindset that a
disaster will occur, and plan for it.
1) Prepare a comprehensive disaster plan that includes a list of the
possible disruptions that can affect the safety of a firm's people and
the ability to practice law.
2) Prepare a data protection plan that includes a detailed,
comprehensive strategy for data and program backup. Anticipate the
multiple factors that can affect the ability of a computer network to
generate work product and be accessible when needed. For example, a
hardware failure inside the network fileserver(s) can be protected
against by using redundant hardware componentry such as:
• an array of multiple hard drives or "duplexed" pairs of hard
drives and hard drive controllers
• dual processors (which also improve network performance)
• dual power supplies and dual fans and chassis cooling
systems
• a complete real-time "mirrored" redundant server system,
which is another fileserver ready to step in instantly and take over
network operations if the main server fails
• "bulletproof" data backup, meaning a "real" tape backup
system, not a minimalist $300 TRAVAN tape backup system or attempting to
back up on a spanned set of 30 CD-ROM disks. A "real" tape backup system
is one that can be counted on: an ADR drive or a DAT, DLT, or AIT drive.
Make multiple alternating backup tapes. Back up everything on the
network server or a key stand-alone PC, every single day, without fail.
Store the most recent backup tape or other media out of the office and
out of the building. Cycle out heavily used tapes every year or two and
replace them with fresh backup media. Have a healthy distrust for your
backup system - test it regularly by randomly selecting files from a
recent backup tape, restoring them and checking their accessibility.
Purchase two tape backup devices, storing one out of the building in a
safe place, ready to install and use to restore backed-up information if
the primary tape backup device fails or is damaged.
3) Prepare for physical damage to your computer systems and coping
with and surviving "worst-case" scenarios. Assume that not only does
your office burn to the ground, melting your network fileserver, but
that your off-site-stored backup tapes refuse to restore your
information. Companies like Ontrack Data (www.ontrack.com) and
Drivesavers (www.drive-savers.com) have managed to recover data from
hard drives that have been crushed, scorched, torched, melted, flooded,
driven over, and worse.
4) Protect your paper files by adopting a paperless office approach
and scanning your paper documents to build electronic files (which can
then be backed up). It is impractical to photocopy all paper files and
transport the duplicates off-site on any kind of regular basis. Aside
from its daily operational benefits, scanning your paper documents
ensures that a duplicate to every paper file is stored electronically on
the computer system and backed up nightly.1
5) Look for data redundancy in the law office software systems you
purchase and deploy. For example:
a) Document Management. Many document management systems (like
Worldox, iManage, or DOCS Open) have a "document mirroring" or "document
shadowing" function. Every time a user saves a document to its Windows
folder on the network server, a copy of the document is stored on that
user's local hard drive. If the server fails, rendering the
network-located documents inaccessible, the user still can work on
documents previously saved from the last 90 days. When the network is
again operational, typically the local hard drive's "mirror" documents
are automatically synchronized back to their proper "original" locations
on the network server.
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 Ross
Kodner, Marquette 1986, is a Wisconsin lawyer and legal
technology consultant with Milwaukee's MicroLaw Inc. He can be reached
at rkodner@microlaw.com.
Immediately following the Sept. 11 events, Kodner and others worked with
the New York State Bar Association to help build a clearinghouse of
information for New York lawyers displaced from their offices or
otherwise unable to reopen their practices. The information is available
at www.microlaw.com/nyrelief/index.htm,
which also contains a growing collection of disaster recovery-related
resources.
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b) Case Management Synchronization or Replication. Many case
management systems allow synchronization of network-located case
information to laptops, allowing access to a rich range of case
information, calendaring and docketing entries, addresses and contact
information, and so on, when a mobile lawyer is working away from the
office. A secondary purpose is focused on disaster prevention, by
synchronizing a case management system, every single day, to multiple
PCs in the office - not just laptops, but desktop PCs also. In case of a
network failure, multiple computers can access this critical
information. Once the network operation is restored or a damaged or
destroyed network fileserver is replaced, the individual PCs merely need
to "re-synchronize" their case managers to the central system to restore
normal operation.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that tragedies can't be avoided, but the effect of
a tragedy on both people and technology systems can be minimized by
anticipating the worst case scenario and planning for it.
1 Information on the Paper
LESS OfficeTM is at www.microlaw.com/cle/plessindex.html.
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