Public Announcement

Special Counsel in our Brisbane office, Scott Coulthart, in his role as a member of the Qld Law Society’s Technology and Intellectual Property Subcommittee (TIPS), is spearheading the development by TIPS of proposed guidelines for the legal profession in Queensland for the use of cloud in their legal practice.

Many firms, including ours, have used cloud-based technologies for some time, but there still remains some concerns amongst the profession and the public regarding privacy and security aspects of adopting cloud-based technologies in the storage and manipulation of confidential information.

The proposed guidelines are being developed with a view to educating the legal profession, and interested members of the public, about the risks associated with cloud-based technologies and how they are being managed, ultimately with a view to encouraging the profession to adopt these useful and beneficial technologies in a way that complies with our legal and ethical obligations.

The 7-phase project, currently in phase 5 (seeking approval / comments from Lexon), has been continuing now for approximately 12 months and it is expected that the draft guidelines will be presented (albeit informally) as part of Scott’s presentation at the Qld Law Society Symposium to be held in several weeks’ time in Brisbane.

The Australian Law Council has also expressed interest in the TIPS project and it is possible that the guidelines Scott is developing will, once accepted by the Qld Law Society, also become proposed guidelines nationally.

We will keep you informed about this exciting project!