Emergency Action Planning
for Law Firms: What to Do Before
and After Disaster Strikes
By Virginia Grant
“
t can’t happen to us.“ Law firms across the
country are faced with the distressing truth
that disaster can strike at anytime and any
place. Whether the emergency is due to a natural
disaster, accident or intentional act, law firms must
be prepared to deal with all types of occurrences.
All law firms should establish and maintain
an emergency action plan. The importance of
such a plan has never been more apparent. An
emergency action plan is a plan set by a firm to
handle all levels of emergencies. It is a system of
set procedures, and checks, that allow for the
safety of a firm’s most valuable asset – its
employees – while at the same time minimizing
severe or additional equipment and data loss.
Chicago’s Schiff Hardin & Waite has had a
detailed emergency action plan since 1996. The
plan was created due to the City of Chicago’s
past experience with floods and power outages.
The plan allows for safe and efficient evacuation
of the firm during an emergency situation. It
ensures that most of the firm’s vital operations
can continue to function without interruption,
at an off-site location. David Milberg, the firm’s
Director of Marketing & Communications said
that the firm’s back-up plans and procedures
allow the firm to conduct business as usual,
with no interruption to the client.
While natural disasters such as floods or
storms can sometimes be predicted and prepared for, other sudden unexpected hazards
may occur at any moment. Pre-planning for
such situations is vital because in the midst of
an emergency, lack of time, heightened emotions, sensitivities and stress can easily lead to
additional losses. It is important that law
firms try, if possible, to continue their practices – not only for firm survival but also for
the protection of clients.
To the right is a checklist of initiatives that
law firms can undertake to ensure human safety and institutional stability. This list is not in
order of importance nor is it intended to be allinclusive. It simply offers some suggestions
about what to do in a crisis situation.
I
“The importance
of such a plan
has never been
more apparent.”
6
November 2001
What To Do Before Disaster Strikes
• Distribute an employee roster firm-wide.
The roster should include all employees,
their telephone numbers and an emergency
contact name and telephone number. The
roster should be updated and distributed to
all employees on a quarterly basis.
• Create a firm emergency action team. The
team would be responsible for designing
employee contact and notification procedures.
• Establish a firm emergency information
hotline. The purpose of the hotline would
be to inform employees of office closings,
what to do and where to report in case of an
emergency, etc.
• Decide who will contact the media to
inform them of office closings or where to
direct inquiries.
• Prepare a local and emergency number contact list.
• Maintain a designated backup site. This
location should be out of the vicinity of the
firm’s current office. It should have the
capability of becoming functional as the
firm’s central office.
• Prepare vendor, supplier, services and
equipment inventory lists for quick damage
assessment.
• Establish procedures to safeguard important documents. Electronic document storing is readily available and utilized in many
firms, of course, and keeping daily back-up
tapes off-site is imperative.
• Maintain detailed and updated floor plans
of the office building.
Report to Legal Management
• Identify all office building evacuation routes and means of
escape. Maintain a large-scale
map showing evacuation routes
and services.
Below are some suggestions that law
firms can take right now to ensure
that they have procedures in place to
deal with emergency situations:
What To Do After Disaster Strikes
• Account for and establish contact
with all employees.
• Assemble the emergency action
team to provide up-to-date information to employees, outside vendors,
suppliers, media, etc.
• Alert external agencies, vendors,
suppliers and media of the emergency situation.
• Get the off-site, back-up location
operational. Make provisions for
services such as mail delivery,
photocopying and all forms of
communications.
• Assess structural damage and
repair or replace damaged equipment, supplies, etc.
There are various companies
available to assist law firms in
developing emergency action
plans. These companies can develop plans specifically tailored to the
needs of law firms. ◆
This article is reprinted with permission
from the Law Firm Partnership &
Benefits Report, NLP IP Company.
Virginia Grant is a consultant with
Altman Weil, working out of the firm’s
Midwest Office in Milwaukee. She can
be reached at (414)427-5400 or
[email protected]
Report to Legal Management
November 2001
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