Cybersecurity & Privacy

Expert Analysis

• COVID-19 Telehealth Boom Demands Better Privacy Practices

  

  With demand for telemedicine skyrocketing during the pandemic, health care providers should not be lulled into complacency regarding data privacy simply because the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has relaxed its standards, as pre-pandemic practices may be inadequate, says Geoffrey Lottenberg at Berger Singerman.

• Opinion

  Time To Consider Percentage Rental Agreements For Lawyers

  

  It has long been the law that attorneys cannot use percentage rental agreements because doing so would constitute an impermissible sharing of fees with nonlawyers, but such arrangements can help lawyers match expenses with revenues in lean times like now, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Thompson at Holland & Knight.

• Corporate Investigation Lessons From EBay Stalking Scandal

  

  The recent eBay criminal cyberstalking scandal reminds companies and law firms that investigative activities, even if undertaken solely using online research tools, could easily risk criminal or civil legal liability and violations of attorney ethics rules, says Joseph DeMarco at DeVore & DeMarco.

• 'Settle And Sue' Malpractice Cases Have New Clarity In Calif.

  

  A California state appellate court's recent decision in Masellis v. Law Office of Leslie F. Jensen provides a road map for proving causation and damages in settle-and-sue legal malpractice cases — an important issue of long-standing confusion, says Steven Berenson at Klinedinst.

• A Midyear Look At Key US Sanctions Developments

  

  During an active first half of 2020, the Office of Foreign Assets Control strengthened its sanctions programs, issued new guidance documents and announced several enforcement actions, underscoring that even during a pandemic, sanctions compliance is indispensable, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

• How Calif. Privacy Rights Act Could Shape Privacy Landscape

  

  If California voters support the California Privacy Rights Act in November, it will become a permanent baseline for California privacy law, increase the already demanding requirements of the California Consumer Privacy Act, and potentially redefine informational privacy for the entire U.S., say Lauren Kitces and Lydia de la Torre at Squire Patton.

• What You Say In Online Mediation May Be Discoverable

  

  Mediation conducted online with participants in different states makes it harder to determine where communications were made, increasing the risk that courts will apply laws of a state that does not protect mediation confidentiality, say mediators Jeff Kichaven and Teresa Frisbie and law student Tyler Codina.

• 2 Takeaways From Ill. Biometric Class Action Insurance Ruling

  

  An Illinois appellate court's recent decision in West Bend v. Krishna provides clarity into the legal definition of publication in insurance contexts and highlights the importance of policy language in Biometric Information Privacy Act lawsuits, say Deepthika Appuhamy and Brian Scarbrough at Jenner & Block.

• Addressing Facial Recognition Tech's Discriminatory Potential

  

  Recent civil rights groups' objections, industry statements and proposed bills on the use of facial recognition technology highlight several problematic concerns, including that it lacks accuracy in identifying nonwhite individuals and may play a role in racially discriminatory policing, say Laura Jehl and Kari Prochaska at McDermott.

• Keeping Data-Breach Reports Confidential After Capital One

  

  Despite a Virginia federal court's recent order that Capital One turn over its digital forensics report in the bank's data breach suit, companies that take certain precautions may nevertheless use their current cybersecurity providers to produce privileged post-breach reports, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.

• 10 Tips For A Successful Remote Arbitration Hearing

  

  As I learned after completing a recent international arbitration remotely, with advance planning a video hearing can replicate the in-person experience surprisingly well, and may actually be superior in certain respects, says Kate Shih at Quinn Emanuel.

• Health Info Interoperability Rule Raises Privacy Concerns

  

  A new Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology rule requires health care providers to supply patients' health information upon request, but compliance may be complicated when patient privacy laws prohibit information sharing, say Elizabeth Hein and Cynthia Haines at Post & Schell.

• Opinion

  To Achieve Diversity, Law Firms Must Reinvent Hiring Process

  

  If law firms are truly serious about making meaningful change in terms of diversity, they must adopt a demographically neutral, unbiased hiring equation that looks at personality traits with greater import than grades and class rank, says Thomas Latino at Florida State University College of Law.

• 4 Tips For Data Analytics Following DOJ Compliance Guide

  

  In light of disruptions caused by the pandemic, and the U.S. Department of Justice's recent guidance emphasizing data analytics in compliance monitoring, companies should proceed deliberately with a few key considerations, say Michael DeBernardis and Jonathan Zygielbaum at Hughes Hubbard.

• Cybersecurity Steps For Law Firms Amid Heightened Risks

  

  With large swaths of the population indoors and primarily online, cybercriminals will be able to exploit law firms more easily now than ever before, but some basic precautions can help, says Joel Wallenstrom at Wickr.