Legal Practice Confident of Cybersecurity with Trusted MSP Partner

It can take years to build a trusted law practice. Hours of work, sacrifice, and personal investment are needed, but the payoff can be incredibly rewarding. Helping clients navigate the complexities of estate planning law is the foundation for Klenk Law, a boutique estate law practice with a heartfelt mission: Guide clients through estate planning as simply and pain-free as possible. But when it came to improving its cybersecurity, the law practice was the one that needed help.

“I have spent my life building this firm, and I could see it – one bad break - and everything we’ve built could be gone,” admits Peter Klenk, who founded the law firm nearly three decades ago. When the firm’s trusted managed services partner, Exigent Technologies, recommended significant cybersecurity investments, Klenk knew it was time to take action with its IT firm guiding the way.

Trust and Partnership Provide Stability 

Given the key role technology plays in business today, all it takes is a Wi-Fi outage, an unresponsive laptop, or even a temperamental printer – and your productivity grinds to a standstill. Adding to that frustration is the challenge faced by many small businesses: An outsourced IT support company that can’t keep up with your needs.

Klenk Law turned to Exigent after facing that exact situation a few years ago. “We were having issues – we worked with a local company that was too small and couldn’t respond fast enough,” explains Klenk. Not only did the firm need responsive support, the law practice required a helpdesk for those associates and employees in their brick-and-mortar offices in Glenside, PA, and Philadelphia, PA, as well as those working in satellite facilities in New Jersey as well as associates working remotely.  

A quick Google search led Klenk to Exigent Technologies. “I respect the efforts of good SEO, a good website, and good search results, so I called you, and I was impressed with your response capabilities,” he says, adding that he wasn’t fazed by Exigent’s location in New Jersey. “My take is that you can work with us from New Zealand as long as you are there when we need you.”

For practice manager Laura Parisi, having a true partner for the firm's IT needs was a relief. The Exigent team made an immediate impact since the MSP onboarded Klenk Law during the 2020 COVID pandemic. “We were migrating to remote; we were working on a new office in Philly; there was COVID - it was a busy time. Exigent helped manage the transitions, made sure our IT equipment was good and that our Wi-Fi was working – and you’ve been right there with us since,” says Parisi.

Focus on Cybersecurity Improvements

With the day-to-day operations going smoothly, Klenk Law took several significant cybersecurity recommendations from Exigent to heart last year and started to fortify its cyber defenses under the guidance of account manager Jon Cooper. “Jon has convincingly shown us where we were coming up short and where we had gaps,” Parisi explains. Exigent convinced Klenk and Parisi that the practice’s cybersecurity posture was far from bulletproof. “I see cybersecurity like life insurance, you only need one bad mistake to make it worth it,” says Klenk. But before Exigent, the law firm was overwhelmed with where to start.

“Like many businesses, we knew we needed more security, but we didn’t know where to begin,” explains Parisi. “We knew how secure CLIO [legal practice management software] was and where we should store info, but for us, and I think many practices, we didn’t know what to do if someone sent us a Social Security number in email or how to store documents with sensitive data. Exigent raised our awareness about those gaps and gave us answers.”

Klenk Law took full advantage of Exigent’s guidance, adding security awareness training, email security, endpoint security, and Dark Web monitoring. “We all know what questions to ask now, and the training raised awareness with employees. We are all happy to have that information,” says Parisi.

While the practice continues to improve its cybersecurity – cyber insurance is the next step – the peace of mind knowing they are on the right path is a relief. Parisi says she recommends any law practice find a partner versus trying to solve security on their own. “It is overwhelming for a practice manager; there are holes you don’t even know existed until you speak with an IT team such as Exigent. We were careful, but we didn’t know about the many levels of protection we needed. We didn’t know about technical issues such as how to best set up our firewall and how to close loopholes. It isn’t our business. You really need an Exigent to solve this problem.”

Klenk echoes that sentiment, adding that taking the time to research the right partner is important. That effort will lead you to a trusted, reputable business partner that understands the critical role technology plays in business, is committed to responsiveness, and isn’t afraid to raise difficult questions.

“The best part of working with Exigent is the attitude the team has,” adds Parisi. “No matter what the issue,  large or small, everyone is super friendly, there is no accusatory tone, the team smooths over everything and they really communicate that we’ll get it figured out and resolved. It’s that simple.”

The Exigent Method

After collaborating with Klenk Law to stabilize its technology, particularly in support of remote associates and Wi-Fi availability, the team tackled cybersecurity. As a law firm, every engagement is built on trust, and safeguarding client data is paramount.

  • Vigilant Security Awareness Training
  • Veracimail Email Security
  • Fortify Edge Endpoint Security
  • Informant Dark Web Monitoring

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