Ludworth Vane is a thirty-lawyer firm in the City. A senior associate is mid trial-bundle when the matter-management system hangs — not crashed, just slow enough that nobody quite calls it a crisis. The IT provider, contracted on tickets, is “looking into it”. She gets the bundle out at nine.
The server behind the matter-management system was right-sized in week three, so the bundle opens. She doesn’t call anyone, and that’s the whole point.
It happens twice more. A ticket is opened each time, and closed each time — three incidents on three days, never joined up into one underpowered server. Nobody has done anything wrong. Nobody is looking at the whole thing either.
Nothing happens.
A panel client asks for evidence of Cyber Essentials Plus. The renewal lapsed in March and nobody flagged it. The COO is fielding “did anyone deal with this?” emails. IT reaches the agenda as a problem to discuss — not a function being run.
Cyber Essentials Plus was renewed three weeks early, because it came up in the quarterly review while there was still time to do something about it. The managing partner takes the summary straight into the committee meeting. The COO already knew what was in it. IT isn’t on the agenda. It’s on the calendar.