IT Support for Law Firms: What Solicitors Need

Law firms sit in an unusual position when it comes to technology. You hold some of the most sensitive data imaginable — client finances, legal disputes, confidential agreements, privileged communications — and you operate under strict obligations from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to keep it protected. At the same time, case management software, document management, court filing systems, and secure client communications all need to work reliably day to day.

The result is that a generic IT support arrangement often falls short. Here is what the legal sector needs from an IT provider, and what questions to ask when reviewing your current setup.

Why law firms are a target

Cybercriminals target law firms deliberately. The Solicitors Regulation Authority reported 748 cyber incidents affecting UK law firms in 2025 — a 22% increase on the year before. Ransomware attacks against the legal sector rose by more than 50% in the same period.

The reasons are straightforward: legal files contain highly valuable and time-sensitive information, firms often hold client money in their accounts, and the pressure to restore access quickly — to meet court deadlines or close a transaction — means a firm under attack is more likely to consider paying a ransom than many other businesses would be.

The most common attack routes are phishing emails designed to look like court notifications or Land Registry communications, and attacks on the remote access systems solicitors use to work from home or client premises.

What the SRA expects

The SRA’s Code of Conduct and its Cyber Security Toolkit set clear expectations for law firms around data protection and security. These include:

• Appropriate access controls — limiting who can view which client files
• Secure handling of client money and financial records
• Clear policies for identifying and reporting data breaches
• Regular staff training on threats such as phishing and impersonation

The SRA has taken enforcement action against firms that failed to adequately protect client data, so this is not simply a technical nicety. It has real professional and regulatory consequences.

The technology a law firm actually needs

A good IT support partner for a law firm will already be familiar with the practice management software most UK solicitors rely on. Common systems include Clio, LEAP, Osprey Approach and Proclaim; each has its own configuration requirements around data backup, user permissions, and integration with Microsoft 365. An IT provider encountering legal software for the first time will waste your time getting up to speed — often at your expense.

Beyond case management, law firms typically require:

• Secure email. Email is the primary attack vector in most law firm breaches. Properly configured Microsoft 365 — with anti-phishing filters, email authentication records (SPF, DKIM and DMARC), and multi-factor authentication on every account — is the baseline. Without these controls, it is straightforward for an attacker to spoof your firm’s email address or intercept a client communication.
• Safe remote access. Solicitors work from home, client sites and courts. Remote access needs to be properly secured — ideally through a managed VPN or zero-trust approach — not a shared password or an unpatched remote desktop connection.
• Robust, tested backups. Files need to be backed up regularly and stored separately from the main network. If a ransomware attack encrypts your live systems, you need to be able to restore from a backup that was not also encrypted. Backups that have never been tested are not backups — they are hopes.
• Managed devices. Laptops and mobile phones that access client files need to be encrypted, kept up to date with security patches, and centrally managed. A lost or stolen device should be remotely wipeable within minutes.

Cyber Essentials: a baseline worth holding

Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed certification scheme that requires organisations to demonstrate five core security controls are in place: patch management, access control, malware protection, firewall configuration, and secure device settings. It is assessed annually and provides a meaningful signal to clients, insurers and regulators that you take security seriously.

An increasing number of law firms’ corporate clients — particularly those in financial services, public sector work, or regulated industries — now ask their legal advisors to hold Cyber Essentials as a condition of the relationship. Some professional indemnity insurers are beginning to require it too, or price policies more favourably for firms that hold it.

SFIT is certified under Cyber Essentials and regularly helps businesses of all sizes achieve certification for the first time or renew it each year.

Questions to ask any IT provider

If your firm is reviewing its IT support, here are some useful questions to put to any provider you are considering:

• Do you have experience supporting legal practice management software?
• Are you familiar with SRA guidance on cyber security and data protection?
• Do you hold Cyber Essentials or ISO 27001 certification yourself?
• What is your response time for a critical incident — such as ransomware or a data breach?
• How do you handle out-of-hours emergencies?
• Can you provide references from other professional services clients?

A provider that hesitates or gives vague answers to these questions is unlikely to be a good fit for an environment with serious compliance obligations.

How SFIT supports professional services firms

SFIT holds UKAS-accredited ISO/IEC 27001 certification — the international standard for information security management — and provides managed IT support to businesses across Gloucestershire and the wider UK, including organisations with strict data protection and compliance requirements. Our team manages Microsoft 365 environments, endpoint security, backups, firewalls and remote access day to day, and responds rapidly when something goes wrong.

We also help clients understand and prepare for the compliance requirements they face, whether that is Cyber Essentials, GDPR obligations around client data, or the SRA’s own expectations around cyber security.

If your firm is reviewing its IT support, or you have questions about any of the issues above, we are happy to have a no-obligation conversation. Call us on 01452 701355 or get in touch via our contact form.