REDUCING UNNECESSARY LEGAL SPEND
When it comes to legal services, an ounce of prevention really is a pound of cure.
While our litigators make a living litigating, they all advise their clients to be proactive in order to avoid disputes, because the cost of going to court is so high.
Cyber security and data protection is no different. In fact, the 2019 total average cost (both direct and indirect) of a data breach in the U.S. was 8.2 million. While the Canadian figures are not likely as high as in the U.S., the total average cost of a data breach in Canada still exceeds $4,000,000.
So how can businesses, crown corporations, municipalities and other organizations reduce unnecessary legal spend? By proactively developing plans and policies related to cyber security, data protection and privacy law. The costs (legal, IT, and others) associated with developing these plans and polices should be viewed as an investment and not an expense. The reason being, the potential return on investment from avoiding significant government fines, class action lawsuits and crippling brand damage, easily covers the costs of preventing a breach in the first place. For organizations doing business in the European Union (EU) and/or the United States (U.S.), the potential risks and costs are of course higher, due to GDPR in the EU and CCPA in the U.S.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
