CIO Risk Management Forums
American LegalNet launched the first in a series of CIO thought leadership events to be held in large US markets throughout 2010. The February 23 event at Trump Tower Chicago focused on law firm risk management. Considering that risk management impacts many facets of the legal profession we assembled a diverse set of law firm leaders that weighed in on this important issue based on their unique perspectives.
The panel included the following professionals:
- Peter D. Lindau - Associate General Counsel, DLA Piper LLP
- Maryanne Swaim - President, Lloyd’s Illinois
- Edward J. O'Connell – Chief Financial Officer, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
- Adam Hansen – Director of Information Security, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
- Mike Bryant (Moderator) – CEO, Catalyst Management
Chicago CIO Forum Video
Content summary by panel member:
-
Peter Lindau – DLA
A key area of risk GC’s focus on is file opening and conflict management. Automation was not an optional exercise for DLA as we grew rapidly to be the largest law firm in the world. Our global scale forced automation prior to most of the industry. DLA opens over 15,000 new matters per month so systems are critical. Beyond the enterprise automation of critical areas such as conflict management and lateral hiring we ensure we have regular communication between partners and the business people responsible for these key departments.
-
Maryanne Swaim - Lloyd’s
When evaluating the risk profile of our professional liability or cyber insurance law firm clients we audit each of the mission critical processes and technology deployed throughout the life-cycle of a client matter. It is important that law firms invest in process and systems that automate mission critical functions and document the process for audit trail purposes.
-
Ed O’Connell – Hinshaw
Hinshaw and other law firm finance departments play a pivotal role in risk management. Often times we are the first to learn of exceptions or out of ordinary client requests particularly regarding the transfer of funds. Law firms are more frequently the targets of very sophisticated money laundering schemes so we have developed controls that escalate any unusual activity to our GC, and any partners involved.
-
Adam Hansen - Sonnenschein
Sonnenschein has recognized that risk management is an enterprise issue. My primary responsibility at the firm is risk management and the CFO, CIO, GC, Executive Director and other key stakeholders meet frequently to develop systems that mitigate risk and vet issues that surface. It is not coincidental that my background is IT. IT professionals are accustomed to developing and deploying enterprise solutions and have relevant perspective on how to manage complex initiatives across departments, offices and practice areas. This perspective is critical for me as we deploy and manage an enterprise risk management system at Sonnenschein.