Cybersecurity & Privacy

Expert Analysis

• Corporate Compliance Through The Lens Of Calif. Privacy Law

  

  While businesses are preparing for the California Consumer Privacy Act they can pull from the U.S. Department of Justice's recent guidance on compliance programs to establish controls that not only protect consumer information, but also enhance overarching corporate compliance, say Robb Adkins and Shawn Obi at Winston & Strawn and Stephanie Douglas at Guidepost Solutions.

• Remembering Justice Stevens As A Law Firm Leader

  

  Rothschild Barry's John Coffey, who joined Justice John Paul Stevens' law firm in 1965, shares what it was like to watch Justice Stevens practice law, mentor younger lawyers and land a malfunctioning plane.

• Calif. Privacy Law's 3 Limited Exemptions For Health Cos.

  

  So that health and life sciences companies can better determine whether the information they collect is subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act, Jason Linder and Libby Jelinek of Irell & Manella address the scope of certain CCPA exemptions and identify the main areas of ambiguity.

• 5 Takeaways From DOJ Focus On Chinese Trade Secret Theft

  

  Since its official announcement of the China Initiative eight months ago, the U.S. Department of Justice has publicized the initiation of six new cases that include references to both trade secrets and China. These shed some light on DOJ and U.S. business priorities, says Sara O’Connell at Pillsbury.

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• Tips For Avoiding Multistate HIPAA Data Breach Lawsuits

  

  A recent settlement between Medical Informatics Engineering and 16 states appears to be the first state mass action based on purported Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations. It signals increased state-level exposure for HIPAA data breaches and offers a useful compliance checklist for HIPAA-covered entities, say Saad Gul and Michael Slipsky of Poyner Spruill.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• State Net

  Local Governments Push To Regulate Public Surveillance

  

  San Francisco's Board of Supervisors recently approved an ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology by all city departments. The law is part of a growing movement among localities and states to increase oversight of the use of surveillance technologies by government entities, says Korey Clark of State Net Capitol Journal.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.

• How To Evaluate The Rise In Legal Employment

  

  Although the rate of employment for law school graduates — which had been falling steadily — saw a small increase over the last year, other factors, such as fewer graduates overall and potential future job growth stagnation, temper the good news for those pursuing law degrees, say Tiffane Cochran and Tyler Grimm of AccessLex Institute.

• A New Regulatory Push For Transportation Cybersecurity

  

  Transportation remains one of the few U.S. critical infrastructure sectors that is not covered by federal cybersecurity mandates. But in the last few months, the White House, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Congress have begun raising concerns, and new regulations may be on the way, says Norma Krayem of Holland & Knight.

• Revenge Porn Can Be Outlawed Under The First Amendment

  

  To date, 46 states and the District of Columbia have passed needed legislation penalizing nonconsensual distribution of pornographic images of another person, but constitutionally outlawing this phenomenon is tricky and some statutes will likely be struck down, says Nicole Ligon, supervising attorney of the First Amendment Clinic at Duke Law.

• Recent Trends In California's AI Regulation Efforts

  

  California's pending bills and resolutions regarding artificial intelligence focus mostly on regulating governments' use of AI technologies, but some proposed legislation would create new compliance challenges for businesses, say Yoon Chae and Hayden Householder of Baker McKenzie.

• NY Privacy Bill Would Expand Data Security Requirements

  

  If enacted, New York's recently passed SHIELD Act would broaden existing data breach law. Arguably its most significant provision will be the section imposing new requirements on persons and businesses collecting private information associated with a New York resident, say Erik Dullea and Ephraim Hintz of Husch Blackwell.

• Opinion

  The Business Case For Championing Diverse Legal Teams

  

  Leveraging the collective strengths of a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s a strategic imperative for any successful firm or business, says Louise Pentland, executive vice president and chief business affairs and legal officer of PayPal.