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Legal Sector Standard

The legal sector is necessary for interpreting and applying the laws that individuals, companies and organizations must follow. People rely on legal services for legal advice, representation in court and other support during legal proceedings.

Legal sector standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) help legal industry professionals demonstrate their ethics to their clients and manage their operations more efficiently.

About the Legal Sector

The legal industry focuses on the law and its applications. Many employees in the legal sector are lawyers representing their clients in legal proceedings for:

  • Bankruptcy
  • Real estate
  • Criminal law
  • Family law

Besides lawyers, the legal industry consists of numerous positions, such as paralegals and legal assistants.

Some trends influencing the legal sector include:

  • New technologies in the courtroom
  • Companies choosing alternative legal service providers for their legal needs
  • More lawyers choosing a freelancing career instead of a formal law firm structure
  • Discovery process documents and other information being stored and shared electronically instead of on paper

Challenges the Legal Sector Faces

Some problems in the legal industry include:

  • Cybersecurity: Some law firms have outdated cybersecurity systems, making their confidential data vulnerable to hackers. Phishing scams are the most common cybersecurity issue legal firms face, and they will try to gain sensitive information from a client using a digital format. Data breaches are also a concern since law firms have many private files stored on their computers.
  • Client expectations: Clients expect more legal services for a lower rate. Do-it-yourself legal services and legal entities have cheap pricing models, so clients expect many law firms to offer similarly low prices. These prices make it challenging for legal industry professionals to remain competitive.
  • Technological changes: New technology has changed processes and workflows in the legal sector. With so many technology solutions on the market, law firms may struggle to decide what they need and how to implement it.

Related Standard

Benefits of ISO Certification for the Legal Sector

The advantages of legal sector certifications are:

  • Compliance with federal and international regulations: ISO certifications are recognized internationally. Proving your compliance allows your legal organization to avoid the penalties, financial losses and lawsuits that can happen with noncompliance.
  • Win new clients: Your law firm can use the credibility of ISO certifications to draw in new clients and partners.
  • Better information security: Following the security framework outlined in ISO standards will help you keep your employees’ and clients’ information confidential.
  • Certainty that quality standards for service are maintained: You can be confident that your business offers the best services possible for your clients with ISO certifications.
  • Assurance to clients and stakeholders their data is protected: Certification to ISO standards for the legal sector proves to your clients and stakeholders that you take their privacy seriously.
  • Improved performance across the organization: ISO certifications help your company streamline processes for increased efficiency and identify other performance improvements. As a result, your organizational performance can improve.