NFPA Paralegal Core Competency Exam (PCCE)Paralegal PracticeMedium
A paralegal is responsible for managing the firm's electronic filing system. A new associate habitually saves documents to their personal cloud storage account instead of the firm's secure, encrypted server, citing convenience. The paralegal has verbally reminded the associate several times. What is the paralegal's most appropriate next step?
- ADisable the associate's personal cloud storage access on their firm-issued devices.
- BContinue to verbally remind the associate, documenting each instance of non-compliance.
- CGrant the associate administrative access to the firm's server to make it more convenient for them.
- DReport the associate's non-compliance to the supervising attorney or firm administrator.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Report the associate's non-compliance to the supervising attorney or firm administrator.
Saving sensitive client documents to unsecured personal cloud storage poses a significant risk to client confidentiality and data security, potentially violating ethical rules. After verbal reminders have failed, the paralegal's ethical obligation is to escalate the issue to a superior who has the authority to enforce firm policy and ensure compliance.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Disabling personal access is an IT or administrative action, not typically within a paralegal's authority.
- B. Continuing verbal reminders without escalation is insufficient when client confidentiality is at risk and previous reminders have failed.
- C. Granting administrative access would increase security risks, not mitigate them, and is not the paralegal's decision.
Data Security & Ethics
Paralegals have an ethical duty to ensure the security and confidentiality of client data, including adherence to firm policies on data storage and reporting breaches or non-compliance.
- Client data must be stored securely.
- Personal cloud storage often lacks adequate security for sensitive data.
- Non-compliance with security protocols must be reported if unresolved.
Memory trick: Secure data is client trust, personal clouds turn to dust.