Technology can be a blessing and a curse for attorneys. While technology enables attorneys to be able to conduct business on the go, it also puts client and firm data at risk. In the United States, someone loses a cellphone every 3.5 seconds. More than 3 million cellphones are stolen every year. More than 12,000 laptops are lost in airports each week. Other portable electronic devices, ranging from BlackBerrys to iPads to many others are lost just as frequently. Almost every attorney's portable electronic device includes some confidential client information

Most attorneys today conduct business in roaming offices, traveling with huge amounts of client information with them via portable electronic devices. When those devices are lost or stolen, it is tantamount to leaving the doors of the law office unlocked or welcoming a thief to break in. The attorney's and clients' information is readily available for the taking.

California attorneys also have duties to clients that are impacted by technology. Per California State Bar Formal Opinion No. 2010-179, attorneys are supposed to consider several factors when accessing or transmitting confidential client data over a wireless or personal network that is not subject to high levels of security: (1) the level of security attendant to the use of that technology, including whether reasonable precautions may be taken when using the technology to increase the level of security; (2) the legal ramifications to a third party who intercepts, accesses or exceeds authorized use of the electronic information; (3) the degree of sensitivity of the information; (4) the possible impact on the client of an inadvertent disclosure of privileged or confidential information or work product; (5) the urgency of the situation; and (6) the client's instructions and circumstances, such as access by others to the client's devices and communications.