$1 Million Settlement for HIPAA Violations is Cautionary Tale
11/2/20
By: Amy Bender
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced that insurance giant Aetna will pay $1,000,000 to settle HIPAA violations stemming from the following three disclosures of nearly 19,000 plan members’ protected …
Central Bank Digital Currency: Oxymoron or Near Reality?
10/22/20
By: Peter Dooley
In a sharp change of course and softening of rhetoric, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave a speech on Monday, October 19th at the International Monetary Fund’s Annual Meeting in which he left the door open to …
Eleventh Circuit Rejects Class Action Representative’s Incentive Award
10/12/20
By: Matthew Foree
The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently confronted the issue of incentive awards commonly given to class representatives as part of class-wide settlements. The court held in Johnson v. NPAS Sols., LLC, which can be …
Pandemic Brings Increase in Ransomware Payments Prompting New Advisories from OFAC and FinCEN on Sanctions Risks
10/12/20
By: Caitlin Tubbesing
On October 1st—the first day of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month—the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) warned companies working with victims of ransomware attacks …
The Sixth Circuit Takes A Narrow Construction Of The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act And Sides With Employees
9/18/20
By: Caitlin Tubbesing and Barry Miller
The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act (CFAA) is a federal law that provides it is a violation for an individual to “intentionally access a computer without authorization or exceed authorized access” to get protected …
CCPA Enforcement: It’s Here … And Beyond
9/14/20
By: Rick Bortnick
On July 1. California’s Attorney General (“OAG”) began enforcing the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) against Covered Entities, notwithstanding that California’s Office of Administrative Law (“OAL”) had yet to approve CCPA’s correlative regulations. That changed on August …
California Supreme Court Ruling Provides Guidance on Assessing Subpoenas to get Social Media Evidence
8/20/20
By: Barry Miller
Litigators fight a continuing battle in trying to get social media evidence. When an opponent does not cooperate, the only option may be to subpoena that information directly from the owner of the social media platform. On …
Supreme Court to Hear TCPA Case on Autodialer Definition
8/18/20
By: Matthew Foree
The Supreme Court of the United States recently announced that it will consider an important Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) case concerning the problematic statutory definition of “automatic telephone dialing system” (“ATDS”). Information about the case, Facebook, Inc. …
Does What Happens in Mediation Stay in Mediation?
8/14/20
By: Barry Miller
Insurers: Time to review your mediation practices.
As COVID-19 travel restrictions force most mediations online, often with participants in more than one state, insurance carriers must re-examine their assumptions about the process. They need assurance that what …
Statute of Limitations Tolled in California Amid Pandemic
8/3/20
By: Matthew Jones
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom issued a “state of emergency” for the entire State. In response, the California Judicial Council adopted several Emergency Rules to implement during the pandemic. In particular, Rule 9 states …
Twitter Hack and the Lessons it Leaves Behind
7/21/20
By: Courtney Mazzio
Twitter fell victim to a major cyber attack on Wednesday, July 15, when the accounts for some of the world’s most recognizable public figures, executives and celebrities starting tweeting out links to bitcoin scams. The first public …
Microsoft Takes Control of Domains Exploiting COVID-19 Crisis in Phishing Attacks
7/17/20
By: Barry Miller
Microsoft now controls several domain names that, according to the company, were used in attempts to get personal information from Microsoft account holders during the COVID-19 crisis.
A Virginia federal court issued a temporary restraining order July …