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11 February 2022
 
The MLS EDI committee invite you to take part in an exciting new podcast project. We will be discussing three topics separately: disability, gender and social mobility in the legal profession – all through the lens of “bringing your whole self to work” and the successes and failures we have experienced along the way. We also want to be as intersectional as possible in our conversation, so are particularly interested in finding speakers who have a multiple barriers to an historically “typical” legal career.
 
Faced with questions such as “where do you ski?” “what does your husband think about that?” “where are you really from?” and “what is wrong with you?” inclusion hasn’t always been at the forefront of the agenda in the legal workplace.  As workplace discussions evolve, we are aiming to bring together passionate, vocal individuals who can share their lived experiences and talk confidently about the positives and negatives they have experienced in their career. We really want these experiences to empower and uplift – showing how much has already changed and what more we need to do to improve.
 
If you or anyone in your network would be interested in participating, please email
CarlaJones@manchesterlawsociety.org.uk 

 
We can then provide more information and will be working to curate some great discussions between individuals from across the Manchester legal scene.
 
The café at the Civil Justice Centre is struggling and at risk of closure following Covid restrictions and the downturn in footfall.

Unfortunately as the business is run on a contract, it hasn’t qualified for support from government grants or Manchester City Council.

As more people return to using the courts in person they hope that business will pick up, allowing them to continue this valuable service.

You can help by using the café when in the Civil Justice Centre. They are open 08:30 to 13:45 Monday to Friday.

You can read more about the cafe and donate to their gofundme appeal HERE.

 

Your February Messenger is here! 

Why not join in the conversation and share YOUR news with YOUR community.

You could tell us all about your:-

Movers & Shakers
Award wins
Charity work
Well being intiatives
Interesting Cases

We'd love to hear from you about these, or any other stories you want to share!

Please submit your articles by emailing enquiries@manchesterlawsociety.org.uk 

The deadline for the March edition is 17th February.


Don't forget Manchester Law Society Members get their articles published FREE OF CHARGE!

 

Although orders to work from home are lifted it seems that hybrid working and electronic bundles are here to stay. But are you sending your paperless instructions to counsel in an efficient and manageable format?

Why not grab a 'butty and a brew' and join us for this lunchtime webinar giving advice to solicitors at all levels of seniority who send paperless instructions to counsel.  The event is FREE OF CHARGE for Manchester Law Society members.

This session will be led by Richard Lander of Kings Chambers. Richard is an experienced barrister who will outline the dos and don’ts of preparing electronic instructions and bundles, based upon his own experiences and those of his colleagues.

For further details, and to book please click HERE

 

MLS Advantage
Cybersecurity actions for 2022
Cybercrime is increasingly sophisticated, and methods of attack constantly evolve. Law firms are a prime target. A successful attack can make money for the criminals in a number of ways. They may trick a human (staff/client/supplier) into sending money to a fraudulent bank account. Or they may steal something valuable, such as sensitive confidential proprietary or client information, in order to blackmail you into paying a ransom for its return. That confidential information may still then be used to attack you or your clients or extort money from them. Ransoms are also frequently paid in order to regain business functionality, after criminals have encrypted data and systems. Firms of all sizes are losing money on a scale not seen before.

The criminals are exploiting a set of opportunities that must be considered when protecting your law firm.

These include:
Remote working. Staff working away from the office provide lots of attack opportunities.
Cloud email accounts. Thousands of email accounts are hijacked weekly and exploited by criminals.
Business technology. Some of the biggest attacks last year were from poorly maintained technology.
Staff digital behaviour.  Most successful attacks rely on human error at some stage, which is why staff training combined with proper governance is so important.
Cloud services. At its worst, cloud can mean loss of control and lack of risk visibility.
Supply chain weaknesses. Third parties who provide services to your organisation are increasingly the weakest link in your cybersecurity.

2022 cybersecurity action plan
Cybersecurity assessment. You must start by identifying your biggest risks and the vulnerabilities that need closing.
Cybersecurity policy and training. Define how the business will work to reduce risk, e.g. where and how will everyone store confidential information. Then make sure that regular training keeps staff alert to the risks.
Controls and alerts. Get your software and hardware properly configured from a security perspective. Make sure that your controls e.g. your Anti-Virus software is sending appropriate alerts so you can see emerging problems.
Incident response planning. Yes, the worst does sometimes happen. In most cases that I have been involved with, fast, pre-planned activities can have a massive reduction in the impact on your business.

SEE THE FULL VERSION OF THE ARTICLE HERE 

For more advice on increasing your security and business resilience, or for an independent, no strings consultation contact Mitigo on 0161 883 3083 or email mls@mitigogroup.com or visit www.mitigogroup.com