Due to the reality of living in a world with an ongoing pandemic, most organizations have had to put some type of written business continuity plans in place to help deal with remote working and any other unexpected disasters or emergencies. But have those plans been routinely tested, or do they just sit on a shelf gathering dust? Do you have all the necessary and required resources in place in your firm to test your plans? Your plans could be outdated, not viable or have no real value in a true disaster in our current work environment.  This session will look at the state of readiness of your business continuity plan, analyze how to ensure compliance with clients, regulatory or industry standards/requirements and provide best practices for your firm surrounding the testing of disaster preparedness and business continuity plans.

We all know that a comprehensive written Business Continuity plan is an essential part of your firm’s Business Continuity program.  Is your current plan gathering dust on a shelf? Are you struggling to put together a written plan that not only prepares your firm in the event of a disaster, but also meets client compliance and audit requirements and RFP guidelines, regulatory requirements and industry standards that have changed the playing field for Business Continuity in the legal world?  If so, then this session is for you.  This session provides valuable information to any size law firm where you will work through a check list of key components that should be a part of every written Business Continuity plan.  That checklist can then be used to assess and revise your law firm’s current plan.

Washington, D.C., Nashville, Parkland, Las Vegas, Napa, Sonoma, Puerto Rico, Grand Bahama Island, Wilmington, Panama City, Charlottesville, Minneapolis: all sites of horrific traumatic events in the last three years.  Everyone has watched daily news reports with graphic images of people who are survivors of wild-fires, flooding, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, bombings, riots and protests or adults and children dealing with the aftermath of active shooter situations. And now, COVID-19 and a global pandemic has changed our lives and turned our work environment, our organizations, and the economy upside down.  But how often have we taken the time to really think about what happens to us as individuals when we experience traumatic or stressful events?  Behavioral response to stressful incidents or crises and what is happening in the brain can be broken down into psychological stages that help to explain why individuals react in certain ways as they experience trauma. Given that in any firm your most important assets are your people and your clients, this presentation will help those involved in disaster preparedness and crisis management gain a better understanding of the “human factor” in a crisis. This knowledge will better prepare your business and workforce for any situation that could affect your firm’s reputation.

It is difficult to get through any week without hearing a story about an act of workplace violence or an active shooter situation that occurred somewhere in the world. Workplace violence incidents are significantly on the rise, especially in the pandemic world we are currently living in with so much uncertainty and anxiety in our working environment. Workplace violence is a potentially serious risk to any business or law firm resulting in the potential for reduced productivity, decreased revenue, and loss of reputation. Higher turnover can result from the stress and potential traumatic after-effects of a violent incident. This interactive session includes important information to assist you in protecting your firm and your employees, including discussing types of workplace violence that occur and the characteristics and warning signs of potential violence.  Additionally, steps that all firms should take to prevent acts of violence from occurring and discussing what to do if an unwanted intruder enters your office or building will round out this session.

In any organization, the most important assets are people and data.  Businesses cannot provide services to clients without hiring talented and well qualified people and those people, in turn, want to feel that they are working in a safe, secure, and protected environment, especially in the face of an ongoing pandemic.  These are the very people that can provide the first line of defense if there is a need to evacuate or shelter-in-place in the office and to protect the organization’s data in the cyber wars that can threaten reputation, clients’ sensitive data and overall profitability.  In this session you will learn what exercises, drills and training are important to conduct to ensure everyone remains safe in the face of a threat and the key steps necessary to ensure that both your people and your sensitive data are secure.

We all know that a comprehensive written Business Continuity plan is an essential part of your firm’s Business Continuity program.  Is your current plan gathering dust on a shelf? Are you struggling to put together a written plan that not only prepares your organization in the event of a disaster, but also meets client compliance and audit requirements, RFP guidelines, regulatory requirements and industry standards that have changed the playing field for Business Continuity globally in the face of Covid-19?  If so, then this session is for you.  This session provides valuable information to any size business where you will work through a check list of key components that should be a part of every written Business Continuity plan.  That checklist can then be used to assess and revise your firm’s current plan.

It could be a burst pipe, civil unrest and protests, a fire in a neighboring suite, a workplace violence incident, a weeklong power outage due to wildfires, a cyber-attack and data breach or a global pandemic….it does not have to be a natural disaster that could close your business or affect its reputation. Does your firm’s current business continuity plan address all the essential components necessary to seamlessly continue providing services to your firm clients?  As the global pandemic continues to impact the current business landscape around the world, business leaders are looking at their business continuity and risk management programs to determine current and future risks to their firms and help make vital business decisions. In this session we will discuss business continuity and pandemic planning and the steps that your organization can take now to protect your employees, make informed business decisions for returning to the workplace, working with clients, and ensuring organizational resiliency and profitability. Items such as continuing to have a remote work environment while also phasing back to an office work setting, conducting Business Impact Assessments (BIA’s) for your firm, the future of providing services to clients, risk management and compliance issues, creating comprehensive written business continuity plans and testing those plans will be discussed.

In today’s world, the global pandemic has created an increased risk environment of cybersecurity threats, data breaches, vendor risks and third-party supply chain issues. Increasing directives from clients for changes in business practices has made it imperative for businesses to include documented evidence of compliance and risk mitigation practices in their business continuity programs. Compliance with audits issued by clients, stricter RFP guidelines, regulatory requirements and meeting industry standards have now changed the playing field for business continuity globally.  In this webinar, we will share best practices for responding to audits and RFP’s and address how best to create a comprehensive vendor risk management program that will keep your business resilient in the face of any threat.