Daily Mail: Two lawyers who helped Britain’s NCA confiscate £1million from a wealthy businessman’s wife were then targeted in a bomb plot, a court has heard. Jonathan Nuttall, 50, of Romsey, Hampshire, is accused of planting two packages resembling explosive devices at Gray’s Inn lawyer’s chambers on 14 September 2021.
Andrew Sutcliffe KC, and Anne Jeavons had both acted for the National Crime Agency in the recovery of £1million of assets from Nuttall’s wife Amanda Nuttall in 2019. Mr Nuttall and his associates left packages designed to resemble explosive devices and set off smoke grenades to cause maximum alarm in the heart of Londons legal district, the court heard. Buildings were evacuated, roads cordoned off and a large number of police officers attended the scene. The court heard that devices were placed in envelopes with Andrew Sutcliffe’s name on.
Personal safety and security measures are an essential aspect of a lawyer’s practice when working on high level matters. Their work often involves representing and going up against clients and other parties in sensitive and contentious cases, which have the potential to attract threats or attacks from adversaries.
As a result, lawyers need to be proactive in ensuring their safety and the safety of those around them.
One way for lawyers to ensure their safety is to use protective measures such as personal and bodyguard protection for higher profile and risk related matters. Personal protection is appropriate for lawyers when they are working on matters that involve highly contentious clients, high-risk cases, or are traveling abroad to areas where incidents of kidnap and ransom are high.
Bodyguard protection, on the other hand, protects lawyers/attorneys and their clients from potentially negative outcomes, such as being followed or targeted in the course of their work. Security personnel may accompany high-risk cases or large litigation teams, and their presence can provide visible protection and deterrence against potential attacks.
In addition to physical protection, lawyers need to practice situational awareness, which means being aware of their surroundings and potential threats. Lawyers working in high level matters should use minimal or no social media, avoid sharing information and avoid disclosing their travel plans or whereabouts as possible, especially when working on these sensitive and high-profile cases.
Furthermore, lawyers need to receive adequate training in situational awareness, high-risk travel, and defensive techniques. For instance, lawyers handling high level matters that require travel must receive specialised training to protect themselves in the midst of a crisis. This will involve training in situational awareness skills such as assessing threats, security planning, risk analysis, and survival skills.
In addition, it is crucial to have an emergency response plan in place for lawyers and staff who are both travelling and handling matters of higher risk.
In the case of the businessman that planned to intimidate lawyers with fake bombs, a quick response by security personnel and law enforcement helped to identify the package and prevent harm. The response plan can be as simple as a daily check-in, adopting an offensive security posture, establishing communication plans for high-risk events, formulating evacuation plans, and knowing the local emergency numbers.
Lawyers should also be aware of the potential for cyber threats that put their personal and professional information at risk. Online security awareness should be brought to the attention of lawyers and support staff, and individuals should familiarize themselves with data protection protocols. It is essential to ensure all emails and attachments containing sensitive information are encrypted and that secure communication channels are in place with clients.
In conclusion, with the numerous high-level matters and contentious cases that lawyers engage with, personal safety and security should remain top priorities. Lawyers must protect themselves and their clients, enabling them to focus on the matters at hand without fear of harm or intimidation.
Engaging personal protection, maintaining situational awareness, receiving training in defensive techniques, cyber security measures and having an emergency response plan are all mechanisms to help lawyers reduce the risks and consequences of these risks.
By adopting a proactive approach towards their own and their client’s safety and security, lawyers will be better equipped to deal with the risks associated with high level matters. In the end, lawyers must realise that ensuring their own personal safety and security and that of their clients is a vital aspect of their work. In some instances, the safety of their clients may be linked to need for safeguarding their own physical safety as well.
As the case of the businessman who plotted to intimidate lawyers with fake bombs highlights, lawyers must remain vigilant about the potential risks they might encounter. The protective measures and security protocols that are developed and implemented will not only help to keep lawyers safe but also offer their clients the confidence that sensitive and confidential information would be handled with care and within the bounds of the law.
Read the full Mail Article here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12007167/Lawyers-helped-Britains-FBI-confiscate-1million-targeted-bomb-plot-court-hears.html
