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MKF Lawyers modernises IT for rapid growth — enterprise network, Essential Eight ML1, and an IT partner who understands legal-practice priorities

MKF Lawyers engaged Otaris to build an enterprise network, cybersecurity uplift to Essential Eight ML1, and implement managed services that understands legal-practice context and court deadlines.

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Industry
Legal Services — Personal Injury & Compensation Law
Team size
10+ staff
Location
375 King William Street, Adelaide SA 5000
Plan
Fortress
Platform
Fortinet network + HPE Aruba switching/Wi-Fi + 4G failover + Microsoft 365 + Intune + ThreatLocker + Off-site M365 backup
Compliance
Essential Eight ML1

Meet the client

MKF Lawyers is an Adelaide personal injury and compensation law firm operating from 375 King William Street in the heart of the city. With more than 55 years of combined experience across the team — led by Managing Director Matt DeGregorio — MKF represents South Australians on motor vehicle accidents, medical negligence, total and permanent disability claims, childhood abuse, dog attacks, public liability, fatal accidents and estate litigation. They work on a no win, no fee basis, and the firm has earned a reputation for taking on complex compensation matters and seeing them through. The practice has been growing quickly — more matters, more lawyers, more support staff — and that growth has shifted the demands placed on the IT environment that sits behind every file note, every brief, every client communication and every deadline.

What they were up against

External

As MKF grew, the IT environment supporting the firm was no longer keeping pace with where the practice was heading. Service requests and incidents were not being resolved at the speed a busy litigation practice needs, and the network equipment at the site was lower-grade kit better suited to a smaller office than a growing legal firm. Cybersecurity controls were limited to traditional signature-based antivirus on the endpoints — well short of what is now expected of an Australian business holding deeply sensitive client data. The Microsoft 365 tenant had no independent off-site backup, and there was no 4G failover at the site if the primary internet connection went down. Adding new users — increasingly common during a hiring run — was a slow, drawn-out process.

Internal

Leadership had two concerns that mattered above all the others. The first was cybersecurity. MKF handles some of the most sensitive personal data any Australian business holds — medical records, abuse case files, financial details, family circumstances — and leadership wanted real confidence in how that data was being protected. The second was responsiveness with context. In a personal injury and compensation practice, an IT issue affecting a matter heading to court is not the same as a routine office hiccup. A delayed response on the wrong incident — at the wrong moment in the litigation calendar — can put a matter, and a client's outcome, at risk.

A growing legal practice trusted with deeply personal client matters shouldn't have to choose between modern, well-evidenced cybersecurity and an IT partner that understands legal-practice context. Both are non-negotiable — and the right partner brings them together.

How we stepped in

Otaris was approached on the strength of a proven track record in cybersecurity compliance and a thorough methodology for standing up modern, well-governed IT environments — particularly for businesses holding sensitive data and operating under time pressure. With deep experience modernising growing Australian businesses, enterprise network engineering across Fortinet and HPE Aruba, a full Essential Eight uplift playbook, and a managed services model that understands how to triage incidents in regulated and litigation-heavy environments, Otaris was well placed to deliver the IT foundation MKF needed for the next phase of growth.

What we delivered

  1. Comprehensive review — IT systems, cybersecurity and business continuity

    Start with a thorough, leave-no-stone-unturned review of every part of the IT environment: endpoints, identity, Microsoft 365, network, security posture, backup, and business continuity. Build a clear, prioritised modernisation plan from what we find.

  2. Enterprise network replacement (Fortinet + HPE Aruba)

    Replace the existing lower-grade network equipment with enterprise-grade infrastructure: Fortinet firewalls at the edge, HPE Aruba switching and Wi-Fi inside the office. Designed for the performance, security and reliability a busy legal practice needs every day.

  3. 4G failover for business continuity

    Add a 4G failover path at the site so MKF stays connected to email, files, matter management and the courts if the primary internet connection goes down — because a litigation practice cannot afford a quiet day waiting for a fix.

  4. Cybersecurity uplift to Essential Eight Maturity Level 1

    Replace traditional signature-based antivirus with ThreatLocker application whitelisting on every endpoint. Close the gaps identified in the security review and bring the practice into line with the Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 standard.

  5. Off-site Microsoft 365 backup

    Add an independent off-site backup for the Microsoft 365 tenant so email, files, Teams data and SharePoint matter folders are recoverable separately from Microsoft.

  6. Rapid device deployment for new users

    Standardise on Lenovo business-grade laptops sourced from a local South Australian supplier, with a pre-configured Otaris build. Result: a new starter can be handed a fully configured device within 24 hours of joining the firm.

  7. Managed services with legal-practice-aware triage

    Move MKF onto Otaris's Fortress managed services plan, with incident and service-request triage that understands legal-practice priorities — recognising the difference between a routine office issue and an incident affecting a matter on the court calendar.

The cost of inaction

MKF's growth is real and ongoing, and the stakes around IT in a personal injury practice are not abstract. Sensitive client data — medical, abuse, financial — was being protected by antivirus alone, well below the standard now expected of an Australian business of MKF's profile. A single internet outage at the office, with no 4G failover, could have stopped a working day mid-deadline. Slow onboarding of new lawyers and support staff was holding back the firm's ability to scale into the work coming through the door. And without a service partner that understood the difference between a routine ticket and a court-critical incident, the wrong issue could have been deprioritised at the worst possible moment.

Before and after

Before
After
  • IT partner not keeping pace with the firm's growth — slow responses on incidents and service requests
    Otaris Fortress managed services with legal-practice-aware triage — incidents prioritised against court deadlines, not generic SLAs
  • Lower-grade network equipment in a growing legal practice
    Enterprise network: Fortinet at the edge, HPE Aruba switching and Wi-Fi inside the office
  • No failover at the site — a single internet outage could stop the day
    4G failover in place — MKF stays connected to email, files, matters and the courts if the primary link drops
  • Traditional signature-based antivirus only — well short of modern expectations for legal data
    ThreatLocker application whitelisting on every endpoint + Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 in place
  • No independent off-site backup of the Microsoft 365 tenant
    Off-site backup of Microsoft 365 — email, files, Teams data and SharePoint matter folders recoverable separately from Microsoft
  • Slow new-user setup — a drag on a fast-hiring practice
    24-hour device deployment — Lenovo business-grade laptops, local SA supplier, pre-configured Otaris build, handed to the new starter within a day
  • Concerns about the cybersecurity capability of the previous arrangement
    Well-evidenced security posture — independently reviewed, framework-aligned, with controls MKF can describe to clients and insurers

Where they are now

The result is an IT environment that has been brought into line with the practice MKF has grown into — and built to keep up with the practice it is becoming. The enterprise network from Fortinet and HPE Aruba has drastically reduced the volume of day-to-day incidents that used to come through to the service desk, which in turn has freed up faster, focused responses on the smaller number of incidents that do arise.

Crucially, those responses are triaged against a legal-practice context — Otaris understands that an issue affecting a matter heading to court is not the same as a routine office hiccup, and the priority MKF gets reflects that. Cybersecurity has been lifted from traditional antivirus alone to Essential Eight Maturity Level 1, with ThreatLocker application whitelisting on every endpoint and an off-site backup of the Microsoft 365 tenant providing recovery independence.

The 4G failover means a single internet outage at the office is no longer a missed day. And because the firm continues to hire, the standardised Lenovo build sourced through a local South Australian supplier means a new lawyer or support team member can be handed a fully configured device within 24 hours — turning device onboarding from a bottleneck into a non-event.

Under the Fortress managed services plan, MKF has on-tap access to the full breadth of Otaris's in-house expertise — Microsoft 365, identity, cybersecurity, networking, cloud, AI and managed services — without the cost or complexity of building that breadth in-house. The IT environment is no longer the thing slowing growth down. It's the foundation under it.