When an attorney or staff member leaves a law firm, there are obvious administrative tasks. Payroll needs to be updated. Keys may need to be returned. Clients and colleagues may need to be notified. But there is another departure process that deserves just as much attention: technology access.
A departing employee may have access to email, Microsoft 365, client files, practice management software, cloud applications, remote access tools, shared folders, firm-owned devices, and other systems containing confidential information. If that access isn't removed in a coordinated way, an account or device can remain connected to the firm long after the employee has left.
That's why IT offboarding shouldn't be treated as a last-minute request to “turn off their email.” Law firms need a repeatable process for removing access, protecting firm information, preserving necessary business records, and preparing technology for whoever comes next.
Start the IT Offboarding Process Before the Employee Leaves
Whenever possible, IT should know about a departure before the employee's last day. The timing will depend on the circumstances. A planned retirement may allow weeks of preparation. A resignation may provide less time. An involuntary termination may require access to be removed immediately and coordinated carefully with firm leadership. The important point is that someone should decide when technology access ends and who is responsible for making that happen.
IT shouldn't discover that an employee left because another employee mentions it several days later. A simple offboarding process between firm leadership, HR or administration, and the firm's IT provider can prevent important steps from being missed.
1. Identify Everything the Employee Can Access
Microsoft 365 is an obvious starting point, but it may be only one part of the employee's technology footprint. Depending on the firm and the person's role, access could include:
- Microsoft 365 and email
- practice management or case management software
- document management systems
- accounting or billing applications
- cloud file-sharing services
- remote access or VPN services
- legal research platforms
- electronic signature applications
- password managers
- firm social media or marketing accounts
- third-party portals
- AI applications
- shared mailboxes and calendars
- firm-owned computers and mobile devices
This is one reason maintaining visibility into the firm's technology environment matters. If nobody knows which applications employees are using, offboarding becomes much harder. The goal is not simply to disable the accounts everyone remembers. It is to understand the employee's entire business technology footprint.
2. Disable Sign-In Access at the Appropriate Time
Once the employee's access should end, the firm needs a clear process for disabling it. That may include Microsoft 365, remote access, business applications, cloud services, and other systems the employee used. Timing matters. Removing access too early can disrupt a planned transition. Removing it too late can leave an unnecessary window in which a former employee can still reach firm information.
For certain departures, access may need to be disabled while the employee is meeting with firm leadership. For others, the cutoff may happen at the end of the person's final workday. The firm should determine the timing. IT should be prepared to execute it. Employee departures are also a reminder that Microsoft 365 security for law firms includes the full account lifecycle, from creating and protecting accounts to removing access when someone leaves.
3. Don't Forget About Active Sessions and Connected Devices
Changing a password or disabling one account isn't necessarily the end of the process. Employees may be signed into applications on laptops, smartphones, tablets, browsers, or other devices. They may also have active sessions with cloud services.
A proper offboarding process should consider where the employee may already be authenticated and whether those sessions need to be revoked. This is particularly important in a work environment where attorneys and staff can access firm resources from outside the office. The question isn't only: “Can this person sign in again?” It is also: “Where might this person already be signed in?”
4. Protect the Employee's Email and Business Information
Disabling an employee's email account doesn't mean the information associated with it is no longer important. The firm may need continued access to business correspondence, calendars, contacts, documents, or other information associated with the employee. Leadership should decide what needs to be preserved and who should receive access.
The firm may also need to determine how new messages should be handled. Depending on the circumstances, that could involve forwarding, an automatic response, delegated mailbox access, or another transition process. The objective is to remove the former employee's access without accidentally removing information the firm still needs.
5. Transfer Ownership of Files and Responsibilities
Departing employees often leave behind more than an inbox. They may own documents, folders, shared resources, scheduled meetings, application accounts, workflows, or other technology that colleagues depend on. Someone should ask: What will stop working when this employee leaves?
A recurring report may depend on their account. A shared document may be stored in the wrong location. An application may have been registered using their email address. They may be the only administrator for a particular service. Finding these dependencies before the employee's account is removed makes the transition considerably easier.
6. Recover Firm-Owned Devices
Firm laptops, smartphones, tablets, security keys, and other equipment should be accounted for. Returning the laptop, however, isn't the end of the task. Before a device is reassigned, the firm should make sure it is properly prepared for the next employee. That can include reviewing its condition, applying updates, confirming security controls, removing unnecessary data or profiles, and following the firm's process for securely reconfiguring the device. The goal should be a managed transition, not simply handing the former employee's laptop to the next person who needs one.
7. Review Shared Passwords and Privileged Access
Ideally, employees should have individual accounts rather than sharing passwords. In the real world, however, shared credentials still exist. A departing employee may know passwords for vendors, shared services, administrative accounts, office systems, or other resources. If the employee knew a credential that will continue to be used, determine whether it needs to be changed.
Administrative access deserves particular attention. Someone who had elevated permissions may have been able to manage users, change configurations, access sensitive information, or control other systems. Offboarding is a good time to verify that privileged access still belongs only to people who need it.
8. Consider Personally Owned Devices and Accounts
Secure remote work for law firms becomes especially important during employee offboarding. An employee may have accessed firm email from a personal phone, saved files locally, or signed into business applications from a home computer. They may even have used personal cloud or AI accounts for work. This is another reason law firms need clear expectations around using AI without putting confidential client information at risk, including which AI tools and accounts employees are permitted to use for firm business.
The exact response will depend on the firm's policies, technology, and circumstances, but these possibilities should at least be considered. This is another reason clear technology policies and firm-managed systems matter. The more business information spreads across unmanaged accounts and devices, the harder it becomes to control when someone leaves.
9. Document That Offboarding Was Completed
A checklist is useful because employee departures involve many small tasks, and missing one can create unnecessary risk. The firm should be able to confirm that required access was removed, devices were recovered, information was preserved where necessary, and responsibilities were transferred. That doesn't require an unnecessarily complicated process. It does require consistency. If offboarding depends on someone remembering what they did the last time an employee left, important steps can eventually be missed.
IT Offboarding Is Really About Access Management
Employee departures highlight a larger technology issue for law firms: protecting confidential client information from cybersecurity threats requires knowing who has access to your systems and information, which applications employees use, and whether that access can be removed quickly when circumstances change.
Do you know which applications your employees use? Can access be removed quickly? Can you identify administrative privileges? Do you know which devices are connected to firm resources?
If those questions are difficult to answer during offboarding, they may also be difficult to answer while the employee is still working at the firm. Good offboarding starts with good technology management.
A Simple IT Offboarding Checklist for Law Firms
When an employee leaves, the specific process will vary by firm and role, but a practical IT checklist can include:
- Notify IT of the employee's departure and required access cutoff time.
- Identify the employee's accounts, applications, devices, and remote access.
- Disable sign-in access at the appropriate time.
- Revoke active sessions and review connected devices.
- Preserve necessary email, files, and business information.
- Transfer ownership of shared resources and responsibilities.
- Recover firm-owned computers, phones, security keys, and other equipment.
- Review shared credentials and privileged access.
- Address access from personal devices or accounts where applicable.
- Confirm and document that the offboarding process is complete.
The checklist isn't the strategy. Its value is making sure the strategy gets executed consistently.
Production Ready IT Includes Employee Departures
At Everleap IT, we believe technology entrusted with confidential client information and critical legal work should be operated, not merely supported. That's the idea behind Production Ready IT for law firms. That includes what happens when people join the firm, change roles, work remotely, and leave.
For more than 20 years, we've operated production technology environments where identity, access, security, monitoring, resilience, and disciplined processes are everyday operational requirements. We bring that same mindset to managed IT and cybersecurity for law firms.
Today, Everleap IT provides managed IT and cybersecurity services to law firms across Southern California. We work with firms throughout the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, and the San Gabriel Valley, including communities such as Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Upland, Chino, Claremont, Riverside, Pasadena, and surrounding areas.
Employee offboarding may seem like a routine administrative process. From an IT perspective, it's also an opportunity to make sure confidential information stays protected and technology access stays under the firm's control.
How Confident Are You in Your Law Firm's Offboarding Process?
Ask one simple question: If an employee left the firm this afternoon, would everyone know exactly what technology access needed to be removed? If the answer is “we're not sure,” that's worth addressing before the next departure.
If you'd like to discuss how Everleap IT can help your law firm improve identity management, Microsoft 365, cybersecurity, employee onboarding and offboarding, and the broader technology environment, schedule a Technology Strategy Call with Everleap IT.
Not ready for a conversation? Download our IT Buyer's Guide to help evaluate whether your firm's technology is being proactively managed.
