How to Conduct a Litigation Vendor Risk Assessment

What does it mean, exactly, to vet a vendor before you sign on the dotted line? 

Ultimately, there’s more to vendor assessment than a sales pitch—especially when it comes to risk assessment. Case in point: A whopping 30% of security breaches involved third-party vendors in 2025 (double the number found in 2024), according to Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report.¹ For law firms, that statistic shouldn’t prompt a shift away from critical vendors, but emphasize the need for formal vendor risk assessment procedures. 

The right third parties can enhance and reinforce your defense rather than weaken it, but it all starts with developing—and continuously implementing—a detailed review of their information security, compliance, and operational risk factors.

What Is a Litigation Vendor Risk Assessment?

Evaluating risk levels is a must before partnering with litigation support vendors that have hands-on access to sensitive data and play key roles in advancing legal matters. A carefully planned assessment includes a detailed questionnaire and reviewing official documents to fully explore: 

• Data security measures and weaknesses
• Regulatory compliance
• Types and levels of operational risk 

Effective risk assessment is a proactive—not a reactive—process that protects clients and firms alike.

Data Security and Privacy Risk

Ransomware attacks, data theft, malware corruption—losing control of protected data can lead to serious financial and client confidence losses. Multiple law firm surveys in 2025 found that approximately 20% of firms had experienced cyberattacks in the prior 12-month period, half of which included data exposure or losses.²

To effectively evaluate data security risks, confirm that vendors align with practices such as: 

• File transfer with end-to-end encryption
• Single-sign-on logins with multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Logging of all user and file activities, system events, and data changes
• Unified communication and file storage systems

Additionally, look for: 

• Redundant, geographically diverse data storage
• Realtime security monitoring and 24/7 network and security support
• Actionable incident response (IR) plans, assigning responsibility and accountability

While vendors may not be able to fully unveil their security protocols, you should be able to discuss and review their policies at least at a view-only level during a live meeting to assess their risk score. 

Security Controls and Certifications

Certifications and controls can help ensure adherence to established standards, particularly when accompanied by external audits. Ask to see an audit executive summary or attestation of compliance (AOC) for standards followed, such as: 

• NIST Cybersecurity Framework 
• SOC 2 Type 2 security compliance 
• ISO/IEC 27001

Compliance and Regulatory Exposure

While there are a number of key voluntary frameworks that are considered best practice for data security (such as those noted above), other guidelines are mandated by federal, state, or international law. 

One of these critical regulatory suites falls under HIPAA. While the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is the original foundation, it’s grown over the years to include, for instance, 2009’s Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) and the latest set of HIPAA Security Rule changes set to finalize in 2026.³

Depending on your jurisdictional and practice needs, your vendors may also need to be in compliance with: 

• State privacy laws, such as the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) 
• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) for European Union (EU) citizens
• FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) for federal data

Staying on top of regulations often goes hand in hand with attending to cybersecurity best practices. One difference, however, is that failure to comply can open firms to criminal and civil penalties in excess of two million dollars, as well as the possibility of jail time. And that’s in addition to any civil damages, client loss, and reputational harm.⁴

Operational and Service Continuity Risk

Addressing risk when it comes to operational and service continuity is, in part, an evaluation of your firm’s approach to vendor relationships. Vendor sprawl—dealing with too many third parties—inherently increases risk. But relying on a sole vendor that can’t keep up with your needs will negatively impact your workflow and success in the long term. 

To that end, it’s important to consider whether a prospective vendor can: 

• Scale alongside firm growth
• Provide ongoing quality across business cycles and shifts in your support needs
• Cover the geographic, specialization, and jurisdictional range of your entire firm
• Ensure agile adherence to shifting cybersecurity and compliance requirements

Partner with a Security-Forward Vendor

Vendor risk is an extension of firm risk. Fortunately, you can mitigate risk and improve vendor security by switching from reactive damage control to proactive assessments that leverage repeatable, documented evaluation processes. Choosing vendors with strong security and governance will help reduce your exposure before work even begins.

At U.S. Legal Support, we believe that transparency makes risk assessment easier and safer. That’s why we’re committed to sharing security and compliance information with all our prospective and current partners, such as how we strictly adhere to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA compliance, and other guidelines.

Reach out today to learn more about how we can deliver reliable litigation support services and peace of mind to your firm. 

Sources: 

1. Verizon Business. 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report. https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
2. Law.com. One in 5 US Law Firms Hit by Cyberattacks in the Past 12 Months, Study Finds. https://www.law.com/international-edition/2025/07/01/one-in-5-us-law-firms-hit-by-cyberattacks-in-the-past-12-months-study-finds/
3. The HIPAA Guide. New HIPAA Regulations 2025-2026. https://www.hipaaguide.net/new-hipaa-regulations/
4. HIPAA Journal. What Happens if You Break HIPAA Rules? https://www.hipaajournal.com/what-happens-if-you-break-hipaa-rules/

Julie Feller

Julie Feller is the Vice President of Marketing at U.S. Legal Support where she leads innovative marketing initiatives. With a proven track record in the legal industry, Juie previously served at Abacus Data Systems (now Caret Legal) where she played a pivotal role in providing cutting-edge technology platforms and services to legal professionals nationwide.