No images? Click here Thursday, 30 April 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic and Risk ManagementThe COVID-19 pandemic has created an environment of profound change and uncertainty for the legal profession. Change typically increases risk as legal practices deal with new laws, a tighter market for legal services, changing needs and expectations from clients, and news ways of working, both internally (working from home) and externally (access to courts and other legal remedies). Legal practices should recognise the need to manage the risks that arise from these changes and take measures to prevent or mitigate risks or allocate them to other parties. Law Mutual (WA) has identified three key risk areas arising from changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with potential response measures: 1. Uncertainties over service approach, outcomes, timing and costChanges to court access and legal remedies, substantive laws and working from home will each impact how practices provide services and the time and cost of doing so. To avoid disputes, insureds need to actively manage their client’s expectations and desire for certainty around cost, timing and outcomes. Response measures:
2. Changes to legislation and the firm’s risk appetiteThe pandemic will continue to result in new legislation, or changes to existing ones, that are drafted quickly and have potentially widespread and uncertain impacts. At a time when many practices are seeing existing work put on hold, these legislative changes increase risks associated with:
Response measures:
3. Working from home arrangements undermine processes developed for the officeMany processes designed to protect a practice or manage the quality of its legal services were developed for an office environment and may not be fully effective when people work remotely. These processes might include verification of identify, screening clients, conflicts checking, managing files and information, maintaining client confidentiality, tracking and meeting deadlines and supervising juniors. Response measures:
Table 1 provides a high-level assessment via a heat map as to which activities in the Guidelines become higher risk in a remote working environment. Table 1: Pandemic Matter Management Heat Map Upcoming WebinarsTo further discuss and analyse the areas of increased risk for legal practices, Law Mutual (WA) will facilitate two interactive webinars to consider which risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic are of greatest concern and what response measures legal practices should consider implementing. Register below to attend one of the COVID-19 Pandemic - Risk Management for Legal Practices webinars: Monday, 11 May 2020 Wednesday, 13 May 2020 Places are limited. Please complete and return the registration form to cpd@lawsociety.asn.au by Friday, 8 May 2020. Attendance at the webinar provides 1 CPD point in Competency Area 1 – Practice Management and 1 hour of Law Mutual Risk Management Training. |