Edinburgh’s charming Howard Hotel on Great King Street played host to the most recent of the Law Society of Scotland’s ongoing “round table” IT strategy discussion events this month. The event was jointly hosted by Richard MacLennan of the Law Society and Alan Dawson of Lumison, with a number of senior IT practitioners from throughout the legal profession attending.

The event was one in a continuing series of discussion forums; the main topic for discussion for this meeting was Business Continuity and its impact on the legal profession. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss current legal IT issues as well as focusing on the development of good corporate governance and best practice in business resilience within the profession. With the advent of BS25999, the first ever British Standard accreditation for business continuity, there is significant evidence that accreditation to this standard will soon become a standard requirement during the early stages of any large-scale tender process in Scotland.

This initiative by the Society provided an invaluable opportunity to engage strategically with some senior players and to discuss real issues that affect the legal profession. No fixed agenda was set, allowing for a flexible and open discussion. The forum was also an opportunity for the representatives from each of the legal firms to raise views and concerns directly with Lumison, giving us a clear and direct insight into issues specifically relating to the legal profession, and to discuss the wide and varied options available to firms in creating a more resilient and "always available" service to clients.

Richard MacLennan, IT manager for The Law Society of Scotland commented “I feel the discussion was well balanced and provided a good overview of IT Disaster Recovery issues and in a broader sense for Business Continuity Planning within the profession, not only for the legal firms attending but also for the Society and for Lumison. It’s a key area of concern that doesn’t always get the focus it requires so anything that increases awareness is positive”.