In the last year, the number of successful cyber-attacks against UK law firms increased by 77% vs. the previous 12 months, up to 954.

This dramatic increase highlights the problem faced by firms, that are perceived as both lucrative and easy targets to attackers seeking to exploit vulnerable infrastructures.

Phishing, ransomware, DDoS, advanced persistent threats (APTs) and insider threats are amongst the common types of cyber-attacks targeting the legal industry in 2025, though the common challenge is the lack of dedicated cyber expertise within firms.

In a security landscape where threat actors are increasingly sophisticated, legal IT teams have an array of advanced protective technologies to choose from.

Adopting core tools such as endpoint detection and response (EDR), multi-factor authentication (MFA) and privileged access management (PAM) is a common approach to safeguarding legal operations. These are increasingly supported by SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) platforms and zero-trust architecture, which treat every user, device and connection as untrusted by default, reducing the risk of lateral movement within networks.

How are you managing vulnerabilities?

For firms handling vast volumes of sensitive data, visibility of vulnerabilities is critical.

That’s where LIMA’s Vulnerability Detection & Remediation (VDR) service becomes a key differentiator. VDR provides continuous, automated scanning of your environment to identify and prioritise known vulnerabilities, and our team of security experts fix them before they become active threats, in line with timelines mandated by Cyber Essentials Plus.

Coupled with cloud-native tools like Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Purview, and automated patch management, law firms can embed a secure-by-design model that meets regulatory obligations, strengthens client trust and enables scalable, long-term protection, without compromising user experience or performance.

A question of people and culture

Away from technical solutions, the first line of defence against cyber-attacks for any business, is its team. That’s why more organisations are placing greater emphasis on training to improve overall security and compliance.

Employees must be made aware of the threats posed by cyber-attacks and the importance of their role in keeping systems and data secure. Try and build some engaging elements into your cyber awareness training, beyond e-learning.

Why not try:

• Gamifying the experience
• Using real-world scenarios
• Making it visual, interactive and personalised
• Keeping it short and regular
• Using humour and creativity

Take proactive steps to secure your law firm

Protecting your law firm against cyber-attacks needn’t become another burden for your team, but rather a task for a strategic partner to support with and ensure that your future is safeguarded.

A strategic IT partner can help you minimise risk with a proactive, secure-by-design approach that ensures your business runs smoothly and gives peace of mind.

The right partner will help you to:

• Understand who currently accesses your data and how.
• Prioritise the most valuable or vulnerable areas of your infrastructure.
• Ensure security updates and patching happen reliably and efficiently, aligned with Cyber Essentials Plus timelines.
• Manage all devices centrally – including personal mobiles – with Secure SSO access methods to provide access to systems and data.
• Keep data protected during transfer.
• Embed resilience at a technical level in business-critical areas.
• Harness the power of cloud-based backup.

LIMA specialises in delivering IT services to legal organisations, helping them put technology and security at the centre of their business strategy.  

Read LIMA’s new whitepaper, outlining our full blueprint for driving greater efficiency in legal organisations: Whitepaper: The law firm of the future – LIMA – Insight-led IT services

Contact the team at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk

The post UK law firms hit by 77% surge in cyber-attacks: Are you prepared? appeared first on Lima.

When it comes to end users, IT professionals have three key roles:

1. Secure the user so that they don’t endanger themselves or the firm
2. Empower the user with the tools that enable them to do their job better
3. Facilitate the user with help when they need us

In the SMB legal space, where firms often compete on service quality and agility, end user experience is a differentiator.

A good technology experience for staff boosts productivity and efficiency, reduces onboarding time and reduces attrition.

Through a combination of understanding your users and understanding which technologies best support their day-to-day working lives to reduce friction and increase efficiency, we can deliver the best possible user experience for staff in law firms and legal sector organisations.

Understanding user personas in the legal sector

Firms have distinct sets of users that have different requirements. The role of IT is to facilitate and empower each type of users with a standard, common platform.

Support staff

• Work from a fixed location
• Require local asset access, e.g. printing
• Require consistent access to firm systems
• Time pressure attached to most actions required to support fee earners.

Fee earners

• Roam between primary office and courts as required
• Require access to all information relevant to their cases
• Require easy communication methods to admin staff
• Need ability to meet clients, both virtually and in person

Partners

• Roam between all offices
• Require system access as required, usually on a time constrained basis
• Need ability to speak to all staff in easy methods, sometimes whilst roaming with no case management access

What happens when we get user experience right?

Improved productivity and focus

When technology supports rather than frustrates, staff can focus on legal work rather than navigating support processes. Reducing interaction with IT teams means more billiable hours, better client outcomes and improved morale across the firm.

Consistent workflow across devices

Whether working from chambers, home or court, a consistent experience ensures that users can pick up where they left off – supporting hybrid work without productivity loss.

Streamlined access to tools and information

Intuitive collaboration tools reduce friction between fee-earners, support staff and partners. This ensures smooth ways of working, clear communication and faster case progression.

Microsoft 365 for law firms

When it comes to delivering consistent, efficient user experience across every role in the firm, Microsoft 365 plays a central role. Its suite of tools brings together communication, collaboration and document management in a single, secure environment – supporting users wherever they work.

For support staff, applications like Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive remove barriers to sharing and version control, ensuring the right information reaches the right people quickly. Fee earners can access case materials securely from any location, meet clients virtually, and collaborate seamlessly with colleagues and admin staff. Partners benefit from a joined-up view of the firm, with the ability to connect and communicate easily while maintaining oversight of ongoing matters.

But while M365 provides the foundation for law firms, the real value comes from how it’s implemented and managed. Out of the box, these tools are powerful, but in a legal context, they need to be configured to reflect how the firm actually works. That means ensuring compliance and data security are baked in, workflows are streamlined, and integrations with practice management systems function smoothly.

This is where a specialist partner like LIMA makes the difference. With extensive experience delivering M365 solutions for law firms, LIMA understands the pressures of the legal environment – where uptime, confidentiality and user experience are non-negotiable. Our expertise ensures M365 isn’t just deployed, but optimised to support every user persona within the firm, enabling staff to work more efficiently and deliver a better service to clients.

With the right partner, M365 becomes more than a collection of productivity tools, it becomes the backbone of a modern, connected legal workforce.

LIMA specialises in delivering IT services to legal organisations, helping them put technology at the centre of their business strategy.  

Read LIMA’s new whitepaper, outlining our full blueprint for driving greater efficiency in legal organisations: Whitepaper: The law firm of the future – LIMA – Insight-led IT services

Contact the team at 0345 345 1110 or enquiries@lima.co.uk

The post How to build better user experience in law firms with M365 appeared first on Lima.