The execution of the preparedness exercise provided us both reassurance and valuable insights for improvements.
– Sverre Tyrhaug, Managing Partner at Thommessen.
Thommessen is committed to risk management, and as part of this effort, Agenda Risk conducted a table-top exercise for the crisis management team at the law firm in January 2023.
Thommessen is one of the country’s leading commercial law firms, with nearly 400 employees and offices in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, and London. The firm places a high priority on cybersecurity and is one of the few Norwegian law firms certified with the world’s most recognised standard for information security – ISO 27001.
The ISO certification also serves as a tool for continuous quality improvement. The certificate is valid for three years, and during this period, annual follow-up audits are conducted to assess potential areas for improvement. In this manner, the firm systematically engages in risk analysis and risk mitigation measures, explains Trine Melsether, Chief Digitalisation Officer at Thommessen.
The purpose of the exercise was to provide the crisis management team at Thommessen with effective training in handling various situations that may arise within a law firm.
Furthermore, the exercise aimed to instill confidence and understanding of how the emergency response plan functions, fostering a shared understanding of roles and responsibilities during different crises.
The exercise was conducted as a table-top exercise, where a situation was presented to the participants (in this case, the crisis management team), and participants had to determine how to respond to the situation and what actions to take to resolve the incident effectively. A natural escalation of the situation challenged the crisis management team across significant portions of their emergency preparedness plan. This made the exercise more demanding, but it also mirrors how an unwanted incident typically unfolds.
The exercise was carried out based on a specific risk assessment and with realistic scenarios.
According to Dag Søberg, responsible for Agenda Risk’s security and emergency preparedness services, a table-top exercise is typically not very resource-intensive to conduct and is an effective way to highlight challenges, procedures, and processes. Notably, such an exercise helps participants gain insight into how they must collaborate as a group to address the situation, providing a mental reassurance that can be highly valuable in the event of an unforeseen incident and crisis.
Agenda Risk had prepared realistic scenarios, which were presented to us effectively. Although it was the crisis management team’s responsibility to resolve the challenges, Agenda Risk guided us through the process very effectively. This resulted in the exercise enhancing our confidence in handling a crisis effectively, while also providing several concrete and valuable learning points that we will incorporate into our ongoing improvement efforts.
– Sverre Tyrhaug, Managing Partner at Thommessen.
Please feel free to get in touch with Dag Søberg or Trond Bakke at Agenda Risk if you would like to discuss how Agenda Risk can assist your organisation in conducting various types of emergency preparedness exercises. We also remind you that we will be conducting a training course on exercise planning (planning and conducting emergency preparedness exercises) on March 6. Learn more about it here.
Below, you can see our subject matter experts from our security and emergency preparedness services, Trond Bakke, Dag Søberg, and Carl-Petter Stav.
