Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • October 25, 2024

    Crypto Rapidly Transforming IRS Criminal Cases, Agent Says

    Cryptocurrency is altering the size of many criminal cases that federal law enforcement agencies are handling, an Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator told the UCLA Tax Controversy Conference, commenting that over the past three years the agency broke its record for asset seizures three times.

  • October 25, 2024

    Apple-Google Pact Plaintiff Stuck With 9th Circ. Appeal

    A Ninth Circuit panel has refused to let a training school send its case accusing Google of paying Apple to refrain from developing its own search engine back to district court in light of a recent D.C. federal judge's decision that Google monopolizes the search market.

  • October 25, 2024

    Social Media MDL Judge Rips Meta, AGs' Agency Doc Fight

    A California federal judge Friday slammed counsel for Meta and dozens of state attorneys general during a contentious hearing in multidistrict litigation over claims social media is addictive for not reaching agreements on Meta's demands for documents from 275 state agencies, telling both sides' attorneys, "we should've never gotten here."

  • October 25, 2024

    AI Researchers Lose Bid For DMCA Anti-Hacking Carveout

    Researchers who want to look into whether generative artificial intelligence was producing content that was discriminatory or explicit won't be exempt from a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that bars circumventing digital locks on copyrighted material, according to a new rule.

  • October 25, 2024

    Heinz Charity Ends Embezzlement Suit Against Ex-Adviser

    The Pittsburgh-based Heinz Endowments has dropped a federal lawsuit accusing a former technology adviser of steering nearly $1 million of work to a sham company, according to court filings.

  • October 25, 2024

    Photo App Says BIPA Ignorance Warrants Insurance Coverage

    The company behind a website and app that allow families to view photos of their children at summer camp told an Illinois federal judge it had no idea about the state's biometric privacy law, and thus couldn't have knowingly violated it, arguing that means insurers cannot shirk their responsibility to defend it in an underlying suit. 

  • October 25, 2024

    Election Records Law Needs Update, Mich. Justice Says

    The Michigan Supreme Court declined on Friday to revive criminal charges against an election worker who downloaded a copy of a voter list onto a personal thumb drive, prompting one justice to argue the law he was cleared of violating is out of touch in the digital age.  

  • October 25, 2024

    'Magician' Tax Preparer Close To Plea Deal In $100M Case

    A New York City-based tax preparer who earned the nickname "the magician," allegedly making $15 million while fraudulently depriving the IRS of $100 million, is in "fruitful" plea talks with prosecutors, a Manhattan federal judge heard Friday.

  • October 25, 2024

    IRS Agents To Appeal Exclusion From Biden Tax Privacy Case

    The IRS agents accused of improperly revealing Hunter Biden's tax return information in his privacy lawsuit against the U.S. government told a D.C. federal court Friday that they're planning to challenge a decision preventing them from personally intervening in the case.

  • October 25, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Skadden, Kirkland

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp. absorbs Sandy Spring Bancorp, Sophos and Secureworks merge, Wendel Group takes a stake in Monroe Capital LLC, and Acuity Brands Inc. buys QSC LLC.

  • October 24, 2024

    LinkedIn Hit With €310M Irish Fine For Targeted Ad Practices

    Ireland's data protection commission has handed down a €310 million ($335 million) penalty against LinkedIn for allegedly failing to have an adequate legal basis for processing European Union users' personal data for targeted advertising purposes, the regulator announced Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    USPTO Is Using AI — And More IP Takeaways From Vidal

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal fielded tough questions before a crowd of attorneys Thursday to start the American Intellectual Property Law Association annual meeting, covering topics from her agency's cybersecurity challenges to the backlog of patent and trademark applications.

  • October 24, 2024

    AMA Latest To Sue MultiPlan Over Out-of-Network Pricing

    The American Medical Association and the Illinois State Medical Society are the latest to accuse MultiPlan and the nation's largest health insurers of colluding through the use of the data firm's pricing tools to systematically underpay out-of-network providers, alleging in Illinois federal court Thursday that the "far-reaching and unlawful cartel" inhibits its members from offering critical care.

  • October 24, 2024

    Trade Orgs Back Google's Bid For 9th Circ. Play Store Pause

    Trade groups and cybersecurity experts have told the Ninth Circuit to extend the pause on the mandate forcing Google to open up its Play Store and help rival app stores compete through that distribution mechanism, backing Google with amicus briefs warning of major disruptions to the app ecosystem.

  • October 24, 2024

    CAT Is 'Out Of The Bag': Judge Won't Block SEC Data Tool

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can continue to monitor markets through a surveillance tool known as the consolidated audit trail while it fights a class action lawsuit challenging the tool's existence, with a Texas federal judge saying Thursday that enjoining data collection now would cause chaos and disruption.

  • October 24, 2024

    CFPB Cautions Over 'Unchecked Surveillance' Of Workers

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday it is taking action to protect consumers from "unchecked surveillance" in the labor force, issuing guidance that warns companies to get consent from workers when using algorithmic hiring scores or other outside profiling data for employment purposes.

  • October 24, 2024

    Va. Judge Won't Block Feds' Nonprofit Disclosure Law

    A Virginia federal judge on Oct. 24 refused to stop the U.S. Department of the Treasury from enforcing a law that requires nonprofits such as community associations to disclose personal identifying information about their beneficial owners and applicants to a Treasury agency that focuses on stopping financial crimes.

  • October 24, 2024

    Scam PAC Uses Rick Scott's Name To Trick Donors, Suit Says

    The National Republican Senatorial Committee has filed a false advertising and likeness misappropriation complaint in California federal court accusing a political action committee of fraudulently fundraising millions of dollars in contributions from unwitting donors who think they're supporting prominent conservative lawmakers like Sen. Rick Scott. 

  • October 24, 2024

    LinkedIn Intercepts Health Info On CityMD's Site, User Says

    LinkedIn was hit with a proposed invasion-of-privacy class action on Wednesday in California federal court that accused the social network platform of illegally intercepting users' sensitive health information when they book medical appointments through CityMD's website, then selling the data for targeted advertising.

  • October 24, 2024

    TikTok Won't Get 3rd Circ. Rehearing Of Section 230 Ruling

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday turned down TikTok's request for an en banc rehearing of a panel decision that the social media company's "For You Page" algorithm isn't entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in a case over a 10-year-old's death.

  • October 24, 2024

    Willkie-Led Ingram Micro Rejoins Markets After $409M IPO

    Private equity-backed technology products distributor Ingram Micro Holding Corp. rallied in debut trading on Thursday, marking the company's return to public markets following a $409 million initial public offering, represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and underwriters' counsel Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

  • October 24, 2024

    Alex Jones Atty Laments Sharing Sandy Hook Families' Info

    The lead attorney in conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Sandy Hook Elementary School defamation trial in Connecticut acknowledged Thursday that he "erred" when he allowed a hard drive containing the plaintiffs' confidential records to be transmitted to other attorneys, an act that led to ongoing disciplinary proceedings that threaten his law license.

  • October 24, 2024

    Biden Issues Guidelines For National Security Uses Of AI

    President Joe Biden issued a memo Thursday on the development and use of artificial intelligence for national security, directing actions such as shoring up the security of computer chip supply chains and ensuring AI is not used to commit human rights violations.

  • October 24, 2024

    Norton Rose Adds Experienced Cybersecurity & Privacy Duo

    Norton Rose Fulbright announced that a pair of attorneys with more than 50 years of combined experience have joined it New York and St. Louis offices as senior counsel, in what it said will help clients navigate the increasingly complex cybersecurity and privacy areas of law.

  • October 24, 2024

    Feds Want Leniency For Key Witness At Bankman-Fried Trial

    Prosecutors asked a Manhattan federal judge for leniency when sentencing a former FTX executive who they said provided "substantial" assistance and testimony in the successful prosecution of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange's founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Expert Analysis

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Navigating HHS' New Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Rule

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    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule regarding protections for the privacy of reproductive health information will require regulated entities to grapple with difficult questions about whether to comply with state law requirements or federal privacy prohibitions, says Christine Chasse at Spencer Fane.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Open Questions In Unsettled Geofence Warrant Landscape

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    The Fourth and Fifth Circuits recently reached radically divergent conclusions about the constitutionality of geofence warrants, creating an uncertain landscape in which defendants should assert and preserve the full range of conventional Fourth Amendment challenges, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • A Look At 5 States' New Data Privacy Laws

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    With new data privacy laws in Utah, Florida, Texas, Oregon and Montana recently in effect or coming into force this year, state-level enforcement of data privacy creates significant challenges and risks for how businesses interact with employees and consumers, and for companies that provide and use technologies in multiple jurisdictions, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'

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    The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Licensing And Protections For Voice Actors In The Age Of AI

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    While two recently enacted California laws and other recent state and federal legislation largely focus on protecting actors and musicians from the unauthorized use of their digital likenesses by generative artificial intelligence systems, the lesser-known community of professional voice actors also stands to benefit, says attorney Scott Mortman.

  • 2 High Court Securities Cases Could Clarify Pleading Rules

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    In granting certiorari in a pair of securities fraud cases against Facebook and Nvidia, respectively, the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its intention to align interpretations of the heightened pleading standard under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act amid its uneven application among the circuit courts, say attorneys at V&E.

  • What 2 Key Rulings Mean For Solicitation Under TCPA

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    Two recent rulings from federal district courts in New York and California — each of which came to a different conclusion — bring to light courts' continued focus on and analysis of when an alleged communication constitutes a solicitation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, say Felix Shipkevich and Jessica Livingston at Shipkevich.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Navigating The Complexities Of Cyber Incident Reporting

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    When it comes to cybersecurity incident response plans, the uptick in the number and targets of legal and regulatory actions emphasizes the necessity for businesses to document the facts underlying the assumptions, complexities and obstacles of their decisions during the incident response, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Managing Sanctions Defense Across Multiple Jurisdictions

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    Companies called before multiple regulators to account for the same conduct in this era of increased global sanctions and import-control enforcement should consider national differences in law and policy, and proactively coordinate their responses in certain key areas, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

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