Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • May 31, 2024

    Orrick's $8M Deal To End Data Breach Claims Nears Prelim OK

    A California federal judge indicated Friday that she'll preliminarily approve Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's $8 million deal to end putative class claims over a 2023 data breach that purportedly exposed personal information for 638,000 individuals, but said the "very broad" scope of the settlement's release "raised my eyebrows."

  • May 31, 2024

    Ex-GOP Candidate Sues Air Force Over Records Disclosure

    A former Republican U.S. House candidate alleged in a new lawsuit in D.C. federal court that the U.S. Department of the Air Force illegally disclosed her confidential military records to a Democratic-linked research firm in the run-up to election day, contending the disclosure violated the federal Privacy Act.

  • May 31, 2024

    Judge Wonders If Wash. Social Media Ban Blocks Free Speech

    A Washington appellate judge on Friday questioned the constitutionality of a state law barring injured workers from posting video of their state workers' compensation medical exams on social media, saying it could be cutting off someone's only way of communicating with the outside world.

  • May 31, 2024

    Texas Justices Take Case On UT Student Discipline Disclosure

    The Texas Supreme Court agreed Friday to review a trial court's decision requiring the University of Texas at Austin to disclose the names of students who were found to have violated policies against violence and sex offenses, and the nature of the violations. 

  • May 31, 2024

    Airport Shops, Ex-Workers Say They Have A Data Breach Deal

    Attorneys for an airport retail company and a worker who says his personal information was compromised in a corporate data breach told a Georgia federal judge Thursday they've reached a tentative deal to bring the proposed class action to a close.

  • May 31, 2024

    Kroger's $6M BIPA Deal With 6K Workers Gets Final OK

    An Illinois federal judge granted final approval to a class of about 6,000 Food4Less employees on their $6 million settlement resolving claims Kroger Co. subsidiary Ralphs unlawfully stored and used their biometric data after requiring them to scan their fingerprints to clock in and out of their shifts. 

  • May 31, 2024

    Lindell No-Shows Amid Solvency Concerns In Sanctions Fight

    Attorneys for My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell were nowhere to be found Friday as a D.C. federal judge mulled how much they should pay in sanctions for counterclaims in election company Dominion's ongoing libel suit, saying he'd likely set an amount in the coming weeks.

  • May 31, 2024

    Smith Gambrell Faces Slimmed Data Breach Suit

    A California federal judge has trimmed the claims a proposed class of data breach victims brought against international law firm Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP, leaving the firm to face claims of negligence, invasion of privacy and violation of the California Unfair Competition Law.

  • May 31, 2024

    Robins Kaplan Can't Escape Sanction Over Dropbox Access

    A New York state appeals court has upheld the $156,000 sanction on litigation funding firm KrunchCash and its counsel Robins Kaplan LLP for poking through an opposing party's Dropbox database that was accidentally shared in a $10 million suit, finding that they knew or should have known it was privileged information.

  • May 31, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen financier Crispin Odey file a defamation claim against the Financial Times, Ford hit with the latest "Dieselgate" claim and a human rights activist bring a privacy claim against Saudi Arabia. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • May 31, 2024

    CFPB Sues PHEAA For Discharged Student Loan Collections

    For the second time in a month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed an enforcement action against the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, a major student loan servicer, this time suing it in Pennsylvania federal court for allegedly pursuing unlawful collections on loans discharged in bankruptcy.

  • May 30, 2024

    FTC, SEC Urged To Probe UnitedHealth's 'Negligent' Security

    The chair of the U.S. Senate finance committee on Thursday pressed the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hold UnitedHealth Group and its top executives liable for "numerous" cybersecurity failings that fueled a debilitating cyberattack on its Change Healthcare unit. 

  • May 30, 2024

    Regulator Says Attys Hit For AI Use Have Themselves To Blame

    An attorney for Colorado's ethics watchdog said Thursday that recent disciplinary action against lawyers for filing briefs with fake case citations generated by ChatGPT indicates a "lawyer problem" rather than issues with the technology.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ga. Judge Gives Fraudster 'Damn Good' 1-Year Sentence

    A Georgia federal judge on Thursday handed down what he called a "pretty damn good" sentence of a year and a day to a man who pled guilty to procuring names and social security numbers that were used in a $9.4 million fraudulent invoice scheme against Amazon.

  • May 30, 2024

    Travelers Loses Dismissal Bid In BIPA Coverage Dispute

    A New York federal judge declined to trim a software company's lawsuit seeking coverage from a Travelers unit for underlying claims that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act, finding the company's declaratory relief and bad faith claims were not duplicative of a breach of contract claim.

  • May 30, 2024

    Full 9th Circ. Won't Rehear Immigration Attys' Privacy Row

    The full Ninth Circuit on Thursday declined a request from a filmmaker and two immigration attorneys to rehear a panel decision finding that a purportedly covert government surveillance program tracking journalists and advocates tied to a migrant caravan didn't harm them.

  • May 30, 2024

    ACLU Says Aon Hiring Tools Discriminate On Race, Disability

    The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation said Thursday it has filed a complaint against Aon Consulting Inc. with the Federal Trade Commission alleging it is using deceptive marketing tactics to push hiring technology that the company claims is bias free in contradiction of research showing otherwise.

  • May 30, 2024

    DOJ's Kanter Says AI Cos. Could Exploit Creators

    The head of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Jonathan Kanter, said Thursday that a lack of competition between artificial intelligence companies could allow them to exploit writers, artists and other content creators.

  • May 30, 2024

    Voice Software Co. Gets Bank Customer Privacy Suit Trimmed

    A California federal judge has trimmed a consolidated action against Nuance Communications over its voice-detection software that was used by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, saying that the class members failed to show how Nuance supposedly used the software to assess the truth or falsity of a person's statements by analyzing their vocal characteristics. 

  • May 30, 2024

    SEC Cites High Court CFPB Ruling In Market Surveillance Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has told the Eleventh Circuit that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision finding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure is constitutional should sink a challenge from broker-dealer firms seeking to escape paying for a market surveillance tool.

  • May 30, 2024

    Target's Surveillance System Violates BIPA, Shoppers Say

    Target faces a proposed class action in Illinois federal court filed Thursday accusing it of gathering shoppers' biometric data through surveillance systems and other sophisticated technology in its campaign to prevent organized retail theft, while failing to advise it is doing so or obtaining their permission.

  • May 30, 2024

    Black Business Owners Sue Over Impact Of Transparency Act

    The Corporate Transparency Act creates unique burdens on businesses owned by people of color, immigrants and other marginalized groups, the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts and several company owners said in the latest legal challenge to the anti-money laundering law.

  • May 30, 2024

    Conn. Atty Avoids Default In $1.4M Transfer Scam Suit

    A Connecticut attorney has won the right to defend herself against accusations she knowingly participated in an email transfer scam that stole more than $1.4 million from a New Jersey-based real estate development company last year.

  • May 29, 2024

    Amazon Shouldn't Escape BIPA Suit, Judge Recommends

    A Washington federal magistrate judge on Wednesday recommended that the court should not toss a suit alleging Amazon.com Inc. collected facial scans of teens playing a popular video game without proper disclosures or consent, saying the plaintiff sufficiently alleges that Amazon knowingly obtained the data and disseminated it.

  • May 29, 2024

    Feds Dismantle Massive Botnet, Arrest Malware's Admin

    Following an investigation by law enforcement in the U.S., Singapore, Thailand and Germany, the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced it has dismantled a botnet used in cyberattacks, child exploitation, massive fraud and export violations, and arrested a Chinese national behind the malware.

Expert Analysis

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • 2 Emerging Defenses For Website Tracking Class Actions

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    Putative class actions premised on state wiretapping statutes that bar website activity tracking continue to be on the rise, but they are increasingly being dismissed on two procedural grounds, says Sheri Pan at ZwillGen.

  • No AI FRAUD Act Is A Significant Step For Right Of Publicity

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    The No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications Act's proposed federal right of publicity protection, including post-mortem rights, represents a significant step toward harmonizing the landscape of right of publicity law, Rachel Hofstatter and Aaron Rosenthal at Honigman.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: Data Breach Litigation In Flux

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    In this monthly look at notable class action decisions, Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris examines a recent mixed-bag data breach ruling from an Illinois federal court — in the context of case law developments over the last year — which illustrates the range of issues confronting litigants going forward.

  • Considerations For Disclosing AI Use In SEC Filings

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    Recent remarks from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler should be heard as a clarion call for public companies to disclose artificial intelligence use, with four takeaways on what companies should disclose, says Richard Hong at Morrison Cohen.

  • Using Arbitration And Class Waivers As Privacy Suit Tools

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    Amid a surge in data breach class actions over the last few years, several federal court decisions indicate that arbitration clauses and class action waiver provisions can be possible alternatives to public court battles and potentially reduce the costs of privacy litigation, say Mark Olthoff and Courtney Klaus at Polsinelli.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • 5 Lessons For SaaS Companies After Blackbaud Data Breach

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    Looking at the enforcement actions that software-as-a-service provider Blackbaud resolved with state attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission in the past year can help SaaS companies manage these increasingly common forms of data breaches, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • SEC Regs Give Banks Chance To Step Up Cyber Safety Game

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    Just as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act forced financial institutions to undertake best practices in recordkeeping, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently effective cybersecurity regulations stand to similarly drive those same enterprises to seek out and implement best practices in cybersecurity, to everyone's benefit, says James Gerber at SimSpace.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • How DOD Can Improve Flexibility Under Proposed Cyber Rule

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    The U.S. Department of Defense should carefully address some of the more nuanced aspects of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program to avoid unintended consequences, specifically the proposal to severely limit contractor use of plans of actions and milestones, say Joshua Duvall at Maynard Nexsen and Sandeep Kathuria at L3Harris Technologies.

  • Understanding SEC's Focus Amid Lack Of Final AI Rules

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    Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rules to govern artificial intelligence are likely far from being finalized, understanding existing regulatory provisions that could address AI risks with respect to development, disclosure, compliance and data protection could help firms anticipate and avoid pitfalls, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement

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    A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • $32.4M Fine For Info Disclosure Is A Stark Warning For Banks

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    The New York State Department of Financial Services and the Federal Reserve's fining of a Chinese state-owned bank $32.4 million last month underscores the need for financial institutions to have policies and procedures in place to handle confidential supervisory information, say attorneys at Sidley.

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