Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • May 21, 2024

    Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

    The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

  • May 21, 2024

    The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

    The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

  • May 21, 2024

    FCC Aims To Shut Down Scam Robocall Campaign

    The Federal Communications Commission is telling a Chicago-based voice service provider to immediately stop originating millions of illegal robocalls marketing purported debt consolidation or face sanctions.

  • May 20, 2024

    Bungie Takes Aim At Cheat Code Sellers In Copyright Trial

    Video game studio Bungie kicked off a Seattle copyright trial on Monday by telling federal jurors a group of cheat code sellers deleted financial records and other data and even fabricated a fake press release about the sale of their website to throw Bungie and its attorneys off their scent.

  • May 20, 2024

    SolarWinds Accuses SEC Of 'Troubling Pattern' Of Distortion

    SolarWinds Corp. is calling out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for what it deems to be a "troubling pattern" of overstating its case against the government contractor, saying that a recent admission by the agency "dooms" claims that the company knew a customer had been hacked and failed to report it.

  • May 20, 2024

    Colo. Gov. Voices 'Reservations' In Signing AI Bias Bill

    Colorado's governor has approved the nation's first framework to clamp down on algorithmic discrimination in certain artificial intelligence technologies, although he expressed several "reservations" about the measure that he urged the Legislature to address before the law takes effect in 2026. 

  • May 20, 2024

    CFPB Fines Debt Relief Co. $400K For Charging Illegal Fees

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday ordered Western Benefits Group to pay a $400,000 civil money penalty and permanently cease operations after finding that the company charged illegal advanced fees for student loan debt relief services and falsely told consumers the advanced fees would be applied toward paying down their debt.

  • May 20, 2024

    Transparency Act Violates Constitution, Groups Tell 11th Circ.

    The Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements violate the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination and other constitutional provisions, libertarian think tank Cato Institute and others said Monday in urging the Eleventh Circuit to uphold an Alabama district court's ruling against the law.

  • May 20, 2024

    Ultragenyx Must Face Suit Over Use Of Henrietta Lacks' Cells

    The family of the late Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were harvested without her knowledge to create the first immortalized human cell line, can pursue their suit alleging Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical "made a fortune" using her stolen cells to develop gene therapy treatments, a Maryland federal judge ruled Monday.

  • May 20, 2024

    Texas' Naive Witness 'Unacceptable' In Google Ad Tech Suit

    A judge overseeing a Texas-led lawsuit accusing Google of anti-competitive conduct in the display advertising market has ordered the attorneys general bringing the litigation to provide an adequate witness who can speak to certain facts about the investigation, calling their failure to do so "puzzling and unacceptable."

  • May 20, 2024

    USPTO Says Patent Applicants' Data Was Mistakenly Leaked

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said it accidentally released certain patent information that shouldn't have been made public during a more than monthlong period, marking another time the office has incorrectly released information.

  • May 20, 2024

    Auto Accessory Co. Secures Partial Coverage For BIPA Row

    An insurer must defend an automotive accessory company in a proposed class action alleging violations of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, the Seventh Circuit ruled, finding that unlike the company's primary and excess commercial general liability policies, an umbrella policy "lacks an exclusion pertaining to nonpublic information."

  • May 20, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.

  • May 20, 2024

    Latham-Led CyberArk Buying PE-Backed Venafi In $1.54B Deal

    Latham & Watkins LLP is guiding Newton, Massachusetts-based CyberArk on a new deal to buy fellow cybersecurity company Venafi from Chicago-based private equity firm Thoma Bravo, represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, at an enterprise value of $1.54 billion, CyberArk said Monday. 

  • May 20, 2024

    Assange Gets Final Appeal In Fight Against US Extradition

    Julian Assange won a lifeline in his long-running fight against extradition to the U.S. on Monday as an English court granted him permission to challenge assurances from American authorities that the WikiLeaks founder would not face discrimination at trial.

  • May 17, 2024

    TikTok, Feds Ask DC Circ. To Fast-Track Potential Ban Row

    TikTok, a group of its creators and the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday all asked the D.C. Circuit to fast-track challenges to a new federal law that would exclude the popular app from the U.S. market unless it cuts ties with its Chinese parent company.

  • May 17, 2024

    Feds Say Duo Ran $73M 'Pig Butchering' Laundering Scheme

    Two Chinese citizens have been arrested on charges of being kingpins in a money laundering operation that processed more than $73 million of funds that were stolen in so-called pig butchering cryptocurrency schemes.

  • May 17, 2024

    Meet The Attys Fighting Efforts To Ban TikTok

    Facing a potential federal ban, TikTok and creators on the platform have tapped a bevy of BigLaw heavyweights, including attorneys who have successfully led challenges to prior moves to shut down the popular social media platform and limit children's online activities, as well as a pair of litigators who've argued dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

  • May 17, 2024

    Scammer Cops To SIM Scheme Including $400M Crypto Theft

    A Colorado woman on Thursday pled guilty in D.C. federal court for her part in a SIM swapping scheme that appears to encompass more than $400 million stolen from the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

  • May 17, 2024

    Furniture Co. Says Insurer Wrongly Denied Hacking Coverage

    A Pittsburgh furniture company accused its insurer of bad faith and breach of contract for failing to cover more than $530,000 in losses due to monthslong hacking that began in 2021.

  • May 17, 2024

    Koch-Tied Group Says Transparency Law Offends Federalism

    The Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional because it does not regulate interstate commerce yet mandates that state-registered entities disclose personal information, a conservative group affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday.

  • May 17, 2024

    Utilities Need More Airwaves To Drive Growth, FCC Hears

    Utilities need more spectrum to keep their networks running smoothly as they move toward digitizing the electric grid, which is already under significant strain, a wireless service provider has told the Federal Communications Commission.

  • May 17, 2024

    Ga. OB-GYN Office Says Data Breach Class Action Falls Flat

    An Atlanta OB-GYN practice has urged a Georgia federal judge to dismiss a proposed class suit over a data breach that allegedly impacted the personal and protected health information of tens of thousands of patients, arguing the lead plaintiff has failed to meet the requirements of the Class Action Fairness Act.

  • May 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Let Alexa Users Revive Voice Data Privacy Row

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday refused to reinstate a proposed class action alleging Amazon's Alexa software illegally collects voice data to target users with advertisements, agreeing with the lower court that the e-commerce giant had clearly disclosed the practice and the plaintiffs hadn't shown they were harmed.

  • May 16, 2024

    Hunter Biden's Suit May Turn On If A Hard Drive Is A Computer

    A California federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden's lawsuit against a former Trump White House aide for accessing data allegedly taken from a copy of Biden's laptop said Thursday that case may hinge on if a hard drive copy qualifies as a "computer" under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Expert Analysis

  • The Double-Edged Sword Of Biometrics In Financial Services

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    Financial institutions are increasingly turning to biometrics for identity verification and fraud prevention, and while there are many benefits to such features, banks must remain vigilant against growing AI technologies that could make users' information vulnerable to biometrics hackers, say Elizabeth Roper at Baker McKenzie and Chris Allgrove at Ingenium Biometric Laboratories.

  • How 2 CFPB Advisory Opinions Affect Reporting Agencies

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued two advisory opinions last month that demonstrate a continued commitment to address inaccuracies in background check reports and consumer file disclosures through broad interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, expanding on a coordinated federal agency effort, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • A Close Look At The FCC's Revised SIM Card Fraud Rules

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    Carolyn Mahoney and John Seiver at Davis Wright break down recently proposed revisions to the Federal Communications Commission's customer proprietary network information and local number portability rules for wireless providers, discuss the revisions' implications on artificial intelligence regulation, and provide tips to prevent SIM swap and port-out fraud.

  • What Retailers Should Note In Calif. Web Tracking Suits

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    As retailers face a deluge of class actions alleging the use of conventional web analytic tools violate wiretapping and eavesdropping provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, uncovering the path toward a narrow interpretation of the law will largely depend on how these cases proceed, say Matthew Pearson and Kareem Salem at BakerHostetler.

  • Copyright Lessons Following Ruling In Artist AI Suit

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    The recent California district court ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI — that artists needed to specify how the training of artificial intelligence tools violated their copyrights — shows that lawyers on either side of generative AI matters must carefully navigate copyright issues including temporary copying and data sourcing, says Carlos Araya at Magnolia Abogados.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • SEC Registrants Likely Won't Get Cyber Disclosure Delays

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's sweeping cybersecurity disclosure final rules, its SolarWinds enforcement action and recent U.S. Department of Justice guidance show the pressure is on registrants to disclose incidents timely and accurately, but the circumstances in which an extension will be granted are extremely rare, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Following Banking Regulators' Breadcrumbs To 2024 Priorities

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    Through blog posts, speeches, and formal guidance and regulations, prudential and other federal and state financial regulators laid out a road map last year pointing to compliance priorities that should be reflected in financial institutions' planning this year, say Laurel Loomis Rimon and Gina Shabana at Jenner & Block.

  • Directors And Officers Face Unique AI-Related Risks

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    As privacy, intellectual property and discrimination lawsuits focusing on artificial intelligence increase, corporate directors and officers must stay aware of associated risks, including those related to compliance, litigation and cybersecurity, says Jonathan Meer at Wilson Elser.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • New Strain Of Web Tracking Suits Pose Risks For Retailers

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    Amid an ongoing surge of California state and federal lawsuits that are using novel theories to allege companies used certain recording technologies to illegally track website users, retailers should take steps to develop a potential argument that customers consented to any alleged uses of these devices, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • Unraveling The Bundled Benefits Of Retail Memberships

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    The recent prevalence of paid retail memberships and the associated findings of a consumer survey suggest that assessing consumer preferences and welfare may be important when considering resolution mechanisms in antitrust contexts, say Rosa M. Abrantes-Metz at Berkeley Research Group, Mame Maloney at The Brattle Group and Jeff Brazell at the University of Utah.

  • NC TikTok Order Holds Lessons On Handling State AG Probes

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    Earlier this month, a North Carolina appeals court compelled TikTok to give the state attorney general information relating to 98,000 recorded Zoom meetings, reminding companies that successful civil litigation strategies may have the opposite effect in the state or regulatory investigation context, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

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