By Eilish Cullen, Head of Partnerships, Teal Compliance
If you work in a law firm, you’ve either had a data breach… or you will.
Not because you’re careless or badly organised, but because you’re human and you work in a pressurised environment full of clients, deadlines and sensitive information.
Every firm experiences mistakes.
- Emails go to the wrong person.
- Attachments contain more than they should.
- Files get uploaded to the wrong workspace.
- Someone clicks a link they shouldn’t have.
The real test of a firm isn’t whether a breach occurs, it’s how the firm responds in the minutes, hours and days that follow.
In my work supporting firms through SRA Regulatory compliance, GDPR and CQS, I’ve seen the same pattern time and again. Firms that respond well bounce back quicker. Firms that respond poorly turn a simple breach into a regulatory headache, a complaints issue, or a reputational risk.
So in this blog, I want to talk about what actually needs to happen next. Not the theory. The reality.
You won’t always know immediately that something is a breach
In the moment, everything feels urgent doesn’t it?
Someone has sent something they shouldn’t. A laptop has gone missing. A client rings to say they’ve received documents belonging to someone else.
But the first step isn’t panic, it’s assessment.
Under UK GDPR, you need to determine whether the incident is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of the individual. That requires calm, structured thinking.
The questions I encourage firms to ask are:
- What was sent or accessed?
- Who was the recipient?
- Are they trusted, known or regulated?
- How sensitive was the data? (‘special category data’)
- Is it likely to be shared further?
- Can the error be “contained”?
This is where a strong internal incident response plan pays off. If staff know what to do in those first five minutes, you move from chaos to clarity very quickly.
Remember your timelines, they really matter
If the breach is serious enough to be reportable, the clock starts ticking.
Law firms have 72 hours to notify the ICO. Not 72 working hours. 72 actual hours.
It’s amazing how quickly that disappears when you’re still trying to understand what happened. I’ve supported firms who lost 24 hours just trying to establish what information went where.
Your clients also need to be informed where the level of risk requires it. Many firms hesitate here, worried about causing alarm. But in every post breach review I’ve run, early and honest communication has always been the safest option.
Clients don’t expect perfection. They expect honesty, accountability and a clear plan.
The breach is the symptom, not the problem
Something I see often when conducting audits is that the breach is rarely the core issue. It is a sign that something upstream wasn’t working:
- Sometimes it’s training.
- Sometimes lack of Policies, Controls and Procedures.
- Sometimes it’s pressure, capacity gaps or unclear processes.
Sometimes it’s simply that people don’t feel confident enough to slow down and check before they send.
A good post breach root cause analysis review will identify:
- Whether the breach was caused by human error or system failure
- Whether similar incidents have happened before
- Whether processes exist but are not followed
- Whether staff understand their data protection responsibilities
- Whether the incident is telling you something about your culture
This is where firms often need external support, not because they can’t do this themselves, but because it’s difficult to review your own processes objectively when everyone is still feeling emotional about what happened.
Don’t treat the ICO as the enemy
One of the biggest misconceptions is that notifying the ICO invites punishment.
In practice, the ICO cares far more about how you handled the breach than the fact a breach occurred at all.
Firms get into trouble when they:
- Fail to report in time
- Don’t contain the breach
- Don’t act transparently
- Don’t learn from what went wrong
Firms who handle things responsibly generally have very straightforward experiences with the ICO.
Your CQS accreditation is watching too
For CQS accredited firms, breaches can have wider implications.
CQS expects firms to demonstrate robust risk management, strong file handling processes and an overall culture of information security. A pattern of unreported or poorly managed breaches can trigger concerns about firm-wide compliance.
This is why regular audits, proper training and honest review are essential.
CQS is not looking for perfection. It’s looking for control.
So what happens next? You learn. You adjust. You strengthen.
Every breach is uncomfortable, but it is also an opportunity:
- An opportunity to understand where your processes need tightening.
- An opportunity to strengthen your culture.
- An opportunity to build resilience before something more serious happens.
When we support firms after a breach, the most common feedback we hear is, “I wish we’d reviewed this earlier.”
The truth is, you don’t need to wait for a breach to understand whether your systems are fit for purpose. A compliance audit or targeted training session gives you the same insights without the stress and risk of a live incident.
If you’ve had a breach, or want to avoid the next one, we’re here to help
Teal supports firms across the UK with GDPR, AML and regulatory compliance. Our compliance audits and bespoke training give our clients clarity on where gaps exist and what needs to happen next.
Book a Compliance Audit – CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Arrange Bespoke Training for Your Team – CICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Thanks for reading, and if you want to get in touch with me, I welcome your call or email – eilish@tealcompliance.com
Eilish
