Cybersecurity & Privacy

Expert Analysis

• Judges Who Use Social Media Must Know Their Ethical Limits

  

  While the judiciary is permitted to use electronic social media, judges and judicial candidates should protect themselves from accusations of ethics violations by studying the growing body of ethics opinions and disciplinary cases centering on who judges connect with and how they behave online, says Justice Daniel Crothers at the North Dakota Supreme Court.

• Rebuttal

  ABA Is Defending Profession's Values From Monied Influences

  

  A recent Law360 guest article suggested that the American Bar Association ignored new opportunities for the legal industry by opposing nonlawyer ownership of law practices, but any advantages would be outweighed by the constraints nonlawyer owners could place on the independence that lawyers require to act in the best interest of their clients, says Stephen Younger at Foley Hoag.

• Making Sense Of SEC's Crypto Enforcement Summer

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent flurry of cryptocurrency enforcement actions fulfill Chair Gary Gensler's promises to clamp down in this area, and offer common themes that may serve as a guide for digital asset market participants, say Arina Shulga and Jeffrey Kelly at Nelson Mullins.

• How In-House Counsel Can Better Manage Litigation Exposure

  

  In anticipation of economic downturn and increased litigation volume, the true struggle for an in-house team is allocating their very limited and valuable attentional resources, but the solution is building systems that focus attention where it can be most effective in delivering better outcomes, say Jaron Luttich and Sean Kennedy at Element Standard.

• Opinion

  Congress Should Rescue The ACPA From Irrelevance

  

  A circuit split underscores the need for Congress to amend the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act to include reregistration in accordance with statutory language, legislative intent and sound public policy, says Baraa Kahf at Knobbe Martens.

• Forecasting A Rise In 11th Circ. State Court Class Actions

  

  Two recent opinions from the Eleventh Circuit have created an unusual landscape that may result in a substantial increase of class action litigation in state courts, particularly in Florida, that will be unable to utilize removal tools such as the Class Action Fairness Act, says Alec Schultz at Hilgers Graben.

• Practical E-Discovery Lessons From The Alex Jones Case

  

  The accidental disclosure of mobile phone data during the Alex Jones defamation damages trial underlines the importance of having in place a repeatable e-discovery process that includes specific steps to prevent production of data that may be privileged, sensitive or damaging to the case, say Mike Gaudet and Richard Chung at J.S. Held.

• How Cos. Can Improve Web Compliance After 1st CCPA Fine

  

  The California attorney general’s recent Sephora settlement — the first monetary penalty for California Consumer Privacy Act violations — should be a reminder for companies to take five key compliance steps and dig into the third parties they allow to collect data from website visitors, says Sam Castic at Hintze Law.

• 4 Takeaways From NY DFS' First Crypto Enforcement Action

  

  The New York Department of Financial Services' $30 million consent order against Robinhood Crypto — its first enforcement action against a crypto company — shows that there is no one-size-fits-all model for compliance programs but there are several considerations to keep in mind, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

• The Ethical Risks For Lawyers Accepting Payments In Crypto

  

  Ohio recently became the fifth jurisdiction to provide attorneys guidance on accepting cryptocurrency as payment or holding cryptocurrency in escrow, but lawyers should beware the ethics rules such payments may implicate, and consider three practical steps to minimize the risks, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Jared Marx at HWG.

• Tornado Cash Sanctions May Signal Enforcement Shift

  

  The Office of Foreign Assets Control’s recent sanctions against Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer with alleged ties to North Korean hackers, could mark a shift in U.S. authorities' tactics to crack down on mixers believed to launder money — or it could simply mean that regulators will use all tools at their disposal, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

• Envisioning Metaverse-Based Litigation In The Real World

  

  Attorneys should entertain the possibility of the metaverse becoming a matter of interest in real-world courts by considering what could cause actions outside the virtual world and digital forensics hurdles to be cleared in demonstrating the offense, identifying the culpable parties and collecting damages, say consultants at Keystone Strategy.

• How To Negotiate Outsourcing Deals That Reduce Costs

  

  Legal practitioners can utilize 10 practice tips to help clients negotiate outsourcing deals that make the most of the recent technological advances that have allowed suppliers to improve functionality, says Brad Peterson at Mayer Brown.

• Opinion

  ABA Stance On Role Of Nonlawyers Is Too Black And White

  

  The American Bar Association's recent resolution affirming its long-standing opposition to nonlawyers owning law practices or receiving shares of legal fees overstates the ethical, professional and regulatory challenges — and ignores the potential benefits — of allowing nonlawyers greater participation in the legal industry, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight.

• Harnessing The Power Of Big Data In Litigation

  

  The growth in the volume, scope and utility of available data — with vendors tracking and selling data, and government releasing large data sets — requires consideration of new data analysis approaches and technological tools that can help provide objective insights in litigation matters, answer key liability and damages questions, and support critical discovery efforts, say analysts at Bates White.