Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • November 18, 2024

    Walgreens, Grocer Accused Of Flouting Lie Detector Law

    Walgreens and New England supermarket chain Shaw's are violating a Massachusetts law requiring that job applicants be advised that the state does not allow the use of lie detector tests in employment decisions, a pair of proposed class actions filed Monday allege.

  • November 18, 2024

    'Sub-Par' Work By Data Breach Class Attys Earns Lower Fee

    A Connecticut federal judge awarded $340,000 on Monday to class counsel in a data breach lawsuit against Merritt Healthcare Advisors but criticized their request for $381,250 as out of line with reasonable rates and said some of their work in the case was "sub-par."

  • November 18, 2024

    Pa. AG-Elect Likely To Target AI, Robocalls And Opioids

    Pennsylvania Attorney General-elect Dave Sunday is likely to focus on cracking down on artificial-intelligence-related scams that prey on vulnerable populations, unwanted robocalls, and opioid makers, while being less inclined to hammer down on energy and fossil fuel companies, experts said.

  • November 17, 2024

    Trump Names FCC's Carr As New Agency Chair

    President-elect Donald Trump has picked Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the agency's next chair, selecting a former general counsel of the agency and frequent critic of the current administration to lead the telecom regulator.

  • November 15, 2024

    X Sues To Block Calif.'s New Deepfake Political Ads Law

    X Corp. filed a lawsuit in California federal court seeking to block a new Golden State law aimed at combating artificial intelligence-generated deepfake political ads, claiming the regulation that takes effect in January is unconstitutional and violates Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • November 15, 2024

    Social Media Cos. Must Face Schools' Public Nuisance Claims

    Meta Platforms and other social media giants must face most of the public nuisance claims brought by school districts and local government entities in multidistrict litigation alleging the companies designed their platforms to addict children, a California federal judge ruled Friday.

  • November 15, 2024

    Atty-Brother Feud Belongs In State Court, Mich. Judge Finds

    A Michigan federal judge won't weigh in on a spat between an attorney and his former cannabis business partner brother, who is accused of shorting him $18 million as part of a buyout agreement, saying the dispute should stay in state court.

  • November 15, 2024

    Ill. Biometric Privacy Changes Apply Retroactively, Judge Says

    The Illinois legislature's recent move to limit businesses' exposure under the state's landmark biometric privacy law applies to disputes that were brought before the change was approved, a federal judge has ruled in tossing a lawsuit over a transportation company's allegedly unlawful collection of an employee's fingerprints. 

  • November 15, 2024

    EPA Watchdog Flags Drinking Water Cybersecurity Risks

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's internal watchdog is sounding the alarm about cybersecurity weaknesses in the nation's drinking water systems, and said there are problems with the plans for reporting and coordinating responses to attacks.

  • November 15, 2024

    Tech Co. Salesman Settles Ex-Employer's AI Misuse Claims

    A Connecticut salesman accused of using an artificial intelligence application to record company conference calls and his former employer have settled the company's trade secrets lawsuit, according to a joint request filed Friday seeking a permanent injunction.

  • November 15, 2024

    Wash. Judge Says Junk Text Suit Must Lose Autodialer Claims

    Consumers who were peppered with hundreds of unwanted text messages from a home improvement platform can move forward with their $400 million lawsuit accusing the company of ignoring the Do Not Call Registry, but will lose their autodialer claims, a Washington federal judge has ruled.

  • November 15, 2024

    Paxton Says Texas Porn Site Law 'Modest' Way To End 'Crisis'

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that a state law requiring visitors to prove their age before accessing content on certain adult-oriented websites is tailored in the most "modest" way possible to address a "public health crisis."

  • November 15, 2024

    Hot Topic Shoppers' Info Stolen By 'Satanic' Hacker, Suit Says

    Hot Topic and its retail affiliates were hit with a proposed class action Wednesday in California federal court alleging an unknown hacker with the username "Satanic" infiltrated their databases containing personal information belonging to 350 million customers and offered to sell the information on an internet forum last month.

  • November 15, 2024

    Secure Software Co. Investor Sues In Del. For Deal Docs

    An investor in a "public benefit" company that provides sensitive software to government agencies and allies sued the business Friday in Delaware Chancery Court, seeking documents on a stock purchase agreement and other moves purportedly made without required consents.

  • November 15, 2024

    Plaintiffs Ask To Seal $8.5M Data Breach Deal With Gunster

    Plaintiffs in a proposed data breach class action asked a Florida federal court Thursday to let them file under seal an $8.5 million settlement agreement to resolve accusations that Florida corporate law firm Gunster failed to safeguard the personal information of nearly 10,000 clients, employees and other individuals from cybercriminals.

  • November 15, 2024

    Ga. Law Firm Hit With Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

    Atlanta-based personal injury law firm Montlick & Associates PC has been hit with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court over an August data breach that compromised the private information of clients and employees.

  • November 15, 2024

    Mercer University Reaches Deal To End Data Breach Claims

    A group of former Mercer University students and a professor asked a Georgia federal judge to preliminarily approve a settlement that would end a class action accusing the college of not protecting the personal information of more than 93,000 people from hackers during a 2023 data breach.

  • November 14, 2024

    Bitfinex Hacker Gets 5 Years For Laundering Stolen Crypto

    A hacker was sentenced in Washington, D.C., federal court on Thursday to five years in prison for laundering hundreds of thousands of bitcoins now worth more than $10 billion that he stole from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.

  • November 14, 2024

    Calif. Privacy Agency Inks 1st Settlements With Data Brokers

    The California Privacy Protection Agency has issued its first monetary penalties in its almost four-year existence, announcing Thursday that a pair of data brokers would pay nearly $70,000 to resolve claims that they failed to comply with the registration requirements of a groundbreaking state data deletion law. 

  • November 14, 2024

    DOD Wants Contractors To Report Foreign Code Sharing

    The U.S. Department of Defense issued a proposed rule on Thursday requiring technology and weapons vendors to reveal whether they share source code with foreign governments, in an effort to curb potential cybersecurity risks.

  • November 14, 2024

    Webex 'Disrupters' Posing As Colo. Judges Force Tech Swap

    Colorado's chief justice said Thursday that a growth in "digital court disrupters" has prompted the state judicial department to start looking for a new software platform for hosting online court hearings, saying bad actors had started posing as justices to gain admittance to virtual courtrooms.

  • November 14, 2024

    Ga. Sheriff Accused Of Censoring Critics After Burger Scandal

    A metro Atlanta sheriff elected to another four-year term last week has been sued by his vanquished Republican opponent, who alleged in Atlanta federal court that the sheriff censored comments on his office's social media accounts that were critical of his use of deputies in a flap over a burger order.

  • November 14, 2024

    47 AGs Support FCC's Robocall Database Reforms

    A bipartisan coalition of 47 attorneys general encouraged the Federal Communications Commission to implement new rules aimed at improving the effectiveness of the Robocall Mitigation Database, or RMD, writing in a comment letter that the database is "currently one of the most important sources of information available for anti-robocall enforcement actions."

  • November 14, 2024

    Gaetz's Slim Legal Resume Raises Concerns Over AG Role

    Having never served as a prosecutor and with minimal experience practicing law, Matt Gaetz would have the thinnest legal resume of any attorney general in recent history and would face a steep learning curve, including daunting leadership challenges, if he were to take up the reins of the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

  • November 14, 2024

    Duo Charged With Hacking Tax Firms In Refund Fraud Scheme

    Boston federal prosecutors have unsealed charges against two men who allegedly used information hacked and stolen from Massachusetts tax preparation firms to pocket more than $1.3 million from fraudulent tax returns.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Agencies Should Reward Corporate Cyber Victim Cooperation

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    The increased regulatory scrutiny on corporate victims of cyberattacks — exemplified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against SolarWinds — should be replaced with a new model that provides adequate incentives for companies to come forward proactively and collaborate with law enforcement, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings

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    Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • Until Congress Acts, EDNY 'Insider Betting' Case Is Premature

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    The Eastern District of New York’s novel wire fraud conspiracy indictment in U.S. v. Pham may have prematurely heralded a new era in federal gambling enforcement, but in the absence of an “insider betting” statute, sportsbooks — not prosecutors — should be responsible for enforcing their terms of use, says attorney Jonathan Savella.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation

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    With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.

  • What BIPA Reform Law Means For Biometrics Litigation

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    A recently signed Illinois law amending the Biometric Information Privacy Act limits defendants' liability exposure on a per-scan basis and clarifies that electronic signatures constitute a valid written release, establishing additional issues that courts will need to address in future BIPA litigation, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • 6 Considerations To Determine If A Cyber Incident Is Material

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on material cybersecurity incidents covers a range of ransomware scenarios, from a company paying a sum and regaining operations to recovering payment via cyberinsurance, but makes it clear that no single factor determines whether a cybersecurity incident is material, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • Series

    After Chevron: What To Expect In Consumer Protection At FTC

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    Although the Federal Trade Commission's bread-and-butter consumer protection law enforcement actions are unlikely to be affected, the Loper Bright decision may curb the FTC's bolder interpretations of the statutes it enforces, says Mary Engle at BBB National Programs.

  • The Ethics of Using Generative AI In Environmental Law

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    The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools is challenging environmental lawyers, consultants and government agencies to determine when and how these tools can be responsibly, ethically and productively integrated into their practices to streamline research, predictive analytics and regulatory compliance, say Ahlia Bethea and Pamela Esterman at Sive Paget.

  • RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

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