When reports surfaced in December 2020 that SolarWinds' Orion platform was hacked, some law firms were relieved that they weren't leveraging the IT monitoring software. But that relief was quickly replaced with concern after various federal agencies and Fortune 500 companies revealed their systems were compromised.

While IT providers said Orion isn't commonly found in most law firms, many said firms' sensitive data could still be at risk due to the many companies and government agencies that were hacked.

"The firms we work with don't use it," said Jim Turner, chief operating officer of Intelliteach's Hilltop Consultants, which provides IT services to boutique and midsize firms. "The risk is coming in from their vendors and supply chain."