How to Protect Your Law Firm From Ransomware

Law firms sit on a goldmine of sensitive data. Client communications protected by attorney-client privilege. Financial records. Medical information from personal injury cases. Intellectual property. Trade secrets. If you wanted to design the perfect ransomware target, a law firm would be pretty close to the blueprint.

And attackers know it. According to the American Bar Association’s 2025 TechReport, 29% of law firms reported experiencing a security breach at some point, with ransomware being the fastest-growing category. The firms getting hit aren’t just the big players, either. Small and mid-size firms are increasingly in the crosshairs because attackers know they often have weaker defenses and are more likely to pay.

Why Law Firms Are Prime Targets

There are a few reasons law firms attract ransomware operators more than other types of businesses:

The data is incredibly valuable. Attorney-client privileged communications, case strategies, settlement details, M&A documents. This isn’t just sensitive information. It’s information that could be weaponized if leaked. That makes law firms more likely to pay to keep it contained.

Ethical obligations create urgency. Lawyers have a professional duty to protect client confidentiality. A data breach isn’t just an IT problem. It’s a potential bar complaint, a malpractice claim, and a client relationship disaster. That urgency is leverage for attackers.

Many firms are under-protected. The legal industry has historically been slow to adopt modern cybersecurity practices. Some firms are still running on-premises servers with minimal security, using shared passwords, and treating technology as an overhead expense rather than a critical business function.

The attack surface is larger than you think. Between lawyers working from home, court filings being submitted electronically, client communications over email, and third-party legal software platforms, there are a lot of entry points for an attacker.

The Real Impact of a Ransomware Attack

Let’s talk about what actually happens when a law firm gets hit with ransomware, because the technical disruption is only part of the story.

Operations grind to a halt. Your document management system is encrypted. Email is down. You can’t access case files, court deadlines, or client information. For a firm that bills by the hour, every minute of downtime is lost revenue.

Client notification obligations. Depending on your jurisdiction and the data involved, you may be required to notify clients, the state bar, and regulatory agencies. Those conversations are never fun.

Ethical and malpractice exposure. If client data is compromised and you didn’t have reasonable security measures in place, you could be looking at bar disciplinary proceedings and malpractice claims. The ABA’s Model Rules require lawyers to make “reasonable efforts” to prevent unauthorized access to client information.

Reputation damage. Legal work is built on trust. When clients learn their confidential information may have been exposed, rebuilding that trust is a long road. Some clients will leave. Prospective clients who hear about the breach may never come in the door.

Financial costs. The average ransomware recovery cost for a professional services firm is well over $1 million. That includes the ransom itself (which we generally advise against paying), forensic investigation, system rebuilding, legal fees, notification costs, and lost billable hours.

Essential Security Layers for Law Firms

Protecting your firm doesn’t require a Fortune 500 security budget. It requires a layered approach where multiple defenses work together. If one layer fails, the next one catches the threat.

Email Security

Email is how most ransomware gets in. A lawyer clicks a link in what looks like a court notification or opposing counsel’s document. That click downloads malware that spreads across the network.

You need more than basic spam filtering. Modern email security should include:

• Advanced threat protection that scans links and attachments in a sandbox before delivery
• Impersonation protection to catch emails spoofing partners, judges, or clients
• URL rewriting that checks links at the time of click, not just at delivery
• DMARC, DKIM, and SPF records configured properly on your domain

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Traditional antivirus is dead for any business handling sensitive data. You need EDR on every workstation and laptop. EDR doesn’t just look for known malware signatures. It watches for suspicious behavior patterns and can isolate a compromised device from the network automatically.

When an attorney’s laptop starts encrypting files at 2 AM, EDR catches it within seconds and quarantines the device before it can spread to your file server.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

This is non-negotiable. Every account that touches client data needs MFA. That means email, your document management system, your practice management software, VPN access, and cloud storage. If an attacker steals a password (which happens more often than anyone likes to admit), MFA is the wall that stops them.

Network Segmentation

If ransomware gets into one part of your network, segmentation prevents it from spreading everywhere. Your billing system shouldn’t be on the same network segment as your guest Wi-Fi. Your server with client documents shouldn’t be directly accessible from every workstation.

Backup and Recovery

This is your last line of defense and arguably the most important one. If ransomware encrypts your files, your backups are what get you back in business.

But not all backups are created equal. For a law firm, you need:

• Immutable backups that ransomware can’t encrypt or delete
• Offsite or cloud backups that are air-gapped from your production network
• Regular backup testing to confirm you can actually restore from them (we’ve seen firms discover their backups were failing silently for months)
• Recovery time objectives that match your business needs. Can you afford to be down for a day? An hour? That determines your backup architecture.

Employee Training and Phishing Prevention

Technology alone won’t save you. Your people are both your greatest vulnerability and your strongest defense, depending on how well they’re trained.

Regular security awareness training should cover:

• How to spot phishing emails, especially ones crafted to look like legal correspondence
• What to do when something looks suspicious (report it, don’t just delete it)
• Safe handling of email attachments and links from unknown senders
• The dangers of public Wi-Fi when working remotely (courthouses, coffee shops, airports)
• Password hygiene and why credential reuse is dangerous

We recommend phishing simulations alongside training. Send your team realistic phishing emails and track who clicks. Not to punish anyone, but to identify who needs additional coaching. Firms that do regular simulations see click rates drop from 30% to under 5% within six months.

Incident Response Planning

Every law firm needs a documented incident response plan. Not a binder on a shelf, but a practical playbook your team has actually rehearsed.

Your plan should cover:

• Who to contact immediately (your IT provider, your cyber insurance carrier, legal counsel for the firm itself)
• Containment steps to stop the spread (disconnect affected systems, preserve evidence)
• Client notification procedures including who makes the calls and what to say
• Bar notification requirements for your jurisdiction
• Communication protocols for managing media inquiries and client questions
• Recovery procedures including restore from backup, system rebuilding, and verification

We run tabletop exercises with our law firm clients where we walk through a simulated ransomware scenario. These exercises consistently reveal gaps that nobody thought about until they were in the middle of it. Running through the scenario when the stakes are low is infinitely better than figuring it out during an actual attack.

Taking the First Step

If you’re reading this and thinking your firm has some gaps, you’re not alone. Most firms do. The question isn’t whether you’re perfect. It’s whether you’re making meaningful progress toward a defensible security posture.

The best first step is understanding where you stand right now. We do security assessments specifically designed for law firms that evaluate your environment against the ABA’s cybersecurity guidelines and current threat patterns. It takes a couple of hours, it’s free, and you’ll walk away with a clear picture of your risks and a prioritized action plan.

Your clients trust you with their most sensitive information. Making sure that trust is well-placed is both an ethical obligation and a business imperative.