With two hurricanes reaping unimaginable destruction on the Gulf Coast and these events still fresh in our minds, it may be timely to take another look at the disaster recovery plans we have in place to see if they have any obvious flaws.

I've had contact with several law firm managers from the Gulf Coast area, where firms have been hit particularly hard. It's interesting to hear from them and what they would have done differently had they known what they know now.

The most prevalent comment was that they could have done better by having preset communication systems for their employees. They spent a lot of time trying to track down each other. There was a big duplication of effort, often with little success.

Most had alternate methods of communication in case of a problem, but if that failed - and it often did -- there was no backup. A good suggestion on how to overcome this is to have a prearranged telephone number agreement, either with a friend or another law firm in a distant city.

Employees could call and receive instructions. Ideally, the message could be changed as often as needed, and callers could also leave messages.

Ironically, another big impact was felt by firms not located in the disaster area. Some that had telephone, Internet and other service providers located in New Orleans found that if those companies didn't have adequate backup systems, they then were impacted too.

You should ask yourself these questions: “Who are my mission critical vendors and providers? Where are they? What plans do these providers have in place in the event of a disaster? What are my plans to reroute or recover the service?

The answer is simply: Your firm should have not only a primary disaster plan, but a plan B and a plan C. Here's an example where plan B would have saved the day.

Most all the firms had adequate computer backups and their tapes or other media were stored offsite. One firm, however, stored its computer backups in a safe deposit box at a bank.

The evacuation from New Orleans started on a Saturday, and there was no access that day to the bank for the firm. In fact their backup tapes were not accessible for almost three weeks.

The lesson is that even with the best computer backup plans in place, you can be out of business if your provider is out of business too.

A big help to the legal community in the affected area was the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) which established a Disaster Aid Forum on its Web site. This forum allowed interested ALA members to request or offer assistance of almost any kind to victims of the hurricanes.

The forum was intended to act as a clearinghouse for information exchange and the sharing of resources for those who wished to help.

Law firm managers throughout the country offered office space, spare rooms in their homes for temporary housing, spare equipment, and even manpower from retired and unemployed administrators to help affected firms get reestablished.

Many of the firms are now up and running in alternate facilities. Some of the larger firms that have branch offices have been able to reallocate resources by using them. Others have just set up in alternate facilities.

The biggest firm in New Orleans without a branch office was up and running at an alternate site by Sept. 16, thanks to a truckload of furniture, fax machines, file servers and conference room chairs, all donated by fellow ALA members.

Understanding that there is a need for a plan B and plan C, the following are a few ideas provided by one of those administrators who would do it a little differently this time:

As a matter of routine (long before an event), determine where you would relocate if your neighborhood or city became unworkable (uninhabitable). Perhaps a second office of your firm in a suburb or nearby city.

If you do not have a second or alternative office -- and especially if your relocation site is a suburb or area other than a business district, consider a long-term arrangement with a hotel that covers both business space and block reservations for displaced persons.

Identify critical technology and hardware that will need to be duplicated or purchased for use at the alternate location. Ensure compatibility with backup media.

Determine how to switch over or transfer communications -- telephone and e-mail, for instance -- to new location.

Identify sources of cash in advance. (Hurricane Andrew in 1992 showed south Florida firms how essential it was to have plenty of cash. ATMs were knocked out. Stores with electronic registers were helpless.) Employees need cash advances and payroll to make essential purchases like food and medicine.

None of us really believes that a disaster of this magnitude will happen here, but neither did any of those law firms in New Orleans. If they had taken more time to develop good disaster plans and alternatives to the plans, they could have recovered even more quickly.

That is the lesson from New Orleans.

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