Access control implements confidentiality obligations through technical restrictions: matter-level permissions, restricted review workspaces, designation-based access tiers, and logging of who viewed what.
It operationalizes protective order and ethical screen requirements.
Alternative Names:
Litigation Access Control, Case Access Restriction
Why it Matters?
Technical enforcement is what makes confidentiality commitments verifiable rather than aspirational, and it is increasingly what clients ask about. A firm representing competing clients, or operating an ethical screen, needs to demonstrate that access was actually restricted rather than merely instructed. Access logs also answer the question that follows any suspected breach: who could have seen the material and who actually did.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Why does technical enforcement matter?
What do access logs establish?
