By Josh Taylor, Smokeball

Insufficient data security practices lead to devastating consequences for small law firms. Breaches can inflict irreversible damage to a firm’s reputation, finances and client relationships. So why aren’t they taking cybersecurity seriously?

A recent American Bar Association survey uncovered this lack of concern, finding that only 42% of firms took action to increase digital security measures last year. Of these, 27% did so to better protect client or contract data. While lawyers spend their time looking out for clients’ risks and liabilities, the data suggests this diligence doesn’t extend to internal matters.

Exactis’ 2018 data leak shows how small business security lapses balloon into a much larger crisis. This breach exposed the personal information of over 230 million people and 110 million businesses, demonstrating that even smaller-scale businesses store massive amounts of sensitive data and face a constant threat as their data pool grows.

While small law firms may not have a long roster of big-name clients, they store a significant amount of personal details and business information. Clients trust them to protect sensitive business information like proprietary data, financial details and confidential deals. Leaks and breaches have severe ramifications, causing clients to walk out, IT headaches, financial worries and regulatory violations.

An accident or technical error may have created the breach, but innocent causes don’t render firms immune from serious business consequences. Each law office is responsible for preventing and quickly responding to leaks or attacks. Technical aspects of cybersecurity may overwhelm some small firms, but improving data protection and online safety practices doesn’t have to be complicated. Law firms bolstering digital security can start by keeping in mind a few simple tips:

Make Security People Powered

Small law firms don’t often face the organized cyber threats that plague larger organizations. Their risks tend to lie within the firm itself, stemming from workers that lack the technological savvy to sidestep malicious schemes. Ransomware and phishing scams rely on human error, and untrained employees open the door for them to poach important private records.

Implementing regular training for all employees assists organizations in avoiding personnel-caused breaches. This way, staff stay updated on how best to protect themselves and the firm from nefarious email schemes and other tactics cybercriminals use to siphon off personal data. Additionally, law offices should cultivate channels for quick information distribution to allow employees to respond quickly during data leaks. Training programs may increase costs and responsibilities up front, but pay off later on by warding off detrimental security issues.

Invest In Updated Tech

The phrase “small law office” doesn’t typically conjure up images of futuristic operations and state-of-the-art technology. But more than hurting firms’ reputations, this digital sluggishness produces security risks. Offices running on inconsistent operating systems, outdated software and unsecured Wi-Fi networks take on a higher vulnerability. Fortunately, these technology issues are easily fixed. Scheduling regular hardware and software updates and frequently changing the internet password helps fortify firms’ defenses.

Though it may seem obvious, it’s worth noting the large role passwords play in ensuring smaller firms’ security. One weak link opens the floodgates to your entire database of client information. Keep login information for sensitive data on a need-to-know basis, and consider using a password manager for all employees. Frequently changing passwords, though a small step, provides another line of protection against cyber threats.

Reduce In-Office Risks

Traditional, lock-and-key security is an easy concept to grasp, but digital security is a hazier concept. Fortunately for firms not familiar with technology-driven data protection, the two share some common ground.

Some believe that on-site servers make data safer, but this is a misconception. Seeing storage equipment physically in the office may be reassuring, but centralizing this information just compounds the risk. For example, burglars breaking into a small law firm could then take much more than basic office hardware. Backing up and housing data in the cloud lowers this hazard for organizations, removing important data from the risks inherent in physical spaces.

Another seemingly innocuous practice that poses security issues is carelessness with paper documents. More firms are adopting digital document software, but paper remains popular at many small firms. These documents also expose confidential information if left in plain view or accidentally included in social media photos. Just like with digital risks, reminding employees of security best practices helps suppress future issues.

Just like any business entrusted with sensitive data, law firms must commit to shielding themselves and clients from data breaches. Leaks at small offices quickly expand into a big problem. As data storage demands continue growing, firms can introduce simple technology and security improvements that protect client information and preserve their reputation.

A few Biglaw firms raised starting salaries for first-year associates to $190,000 last June, but a study by the National Association for Law Placement reveals that most firms held to a more modest course on starting salaries in 2018.

Above the Law reports on the NALP study, which found that only 29.3 percent of reported first-year associate salaries hit the $190,000 mark. Smaller firms and firms with head counts between 501 and 700 didn’t budge and reported flat associate salary growth in 2018, writes Above the Law senior editor Kathryn Rubino.

Most of the top first-year salaries were at firms in the major markets.

Read the Above the Law article.

Harvey Weinstein

Image by David Shankbone

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein may owe his former lawyers nearly $500,000 for work they did in four cases brought against him by insurance companies, reports the New York Post‘s Page Six.

Court documents show that Abelson Herron Halpern LLP is seeking $420,495 in the suits brought against Weinstein by insurance companies who say they shouldn’t have to pay for the costs of his civil and criminal defenses in the sexual misconduct and assault cases brought against him.

Page Six’s Priscilla DeGregory writes that the firm is staking a claim to the money they say they are owed by putting a lien on the ongoing litigation with the insurance companies in the event that Weinstein recoups money from any of them.

Read the Page Six article.

Bloomberg Law reports that Walmart has hired former Justice Department prosecutor David Searle as its international ethics and compliance officer.

The former assistant U.S. attorney prosecuted cases involving fraud, money laundering, extortion, export violations, worksite violations and human trafficking, as well as evaluating corporate compliance programs to make sure they conformed with the law.

Bloomberg’s Elizabeth Olson writes that Walmart has been adding experienced lawyers in recent months, hiring three female general counsel since last year, starting with Rachel Brand, formerly No. 3 at the Justice Department.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

Bruce V. Spiva has been named managing partner of Perkins Coie’s Washington, D.C. office. He succeeds William Malley, who led the office since 2010 and will become firmwide managing partner of Perkins Coie on July 1. Spiva is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

In a release, the firm said Spiva has tried cases and argued appeals in areas as diverse as congressional redistricting and voting rights (seven cases in the past three years), civil rights, First Amendment, class actions and antitrust law. He has also argued appeals in U.S. Courts of Appeals and in state supreme courts across the country.

Spiva serves on the board of directors of the DC Bar Foundation, which funds organizations and attorneys who provide access to justice for low-income people in the District of Columbia. He also serves on the advisory boards of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies and the American Antitrust Institute. In addition, he is the former chair of the board of directors of DC Vote and also served as the co-chair of the D.C. Bar Litigation Section Steering Committee.

Arimi Yamada has joined Michael Best’s Intellectual Property Practice Group as a partner in Washington, D.C. She was previously a founding partner at IP boutique law firm, Typha IP LLP, and will be joined by four intellectual property professionals from her former firm, the firm said in a release.

Yamada will focus her practice on intellectual property and patent matters for Japanese businesses with operations in the U.S. With more than 20 years of experience, she manages patent prosecution, advises on actions coming out of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Japan Patent Office, and counselson patent litigation and inter partes review. Her industry experience spans a number of advanced technologies, including computer software, telecommunications, display, semiconductor, and organic chemistry, the firm said.

In addition to her work in intellectual property matters, Yamada works with U.S.-Japanese related legal needs, including corporate, transactional, regulatory, trade, and cross-border investment matters.

Yamada is licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Japan Patent Office. She earned an LL.M. from the George Washington University Law School, an LL.M. from Temple University Beasley School of Law, and a master’s degree and B.A. from Meiji University. After earning her law degree, Arimi also taught law courses as an adjunct professor at two Japanese universities.

Former federal prosecutor and partner Ferdose al-Taie has joined Akerman LLP to practice in the areas of white collar criminal defense, securities enforcement and compliance, and antitrust and competition law.

In a release, the firm said al-Taie, whose practice is based in Dallas, worked 10 years for the federal government. She held various prosecutorial roles within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including serving as first-chair trial lawyer and trying over 40 civil and criminal jury trials to verdict, before returning to private practice.

Most recently in the federal government, as SEC senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement, al-Taie led investigations and prosecutions of federal securities law violations, such as insider trading, Ponzi schemes, municipal securities violations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) allegations. During her posts at the DOJ, she served in significant capacities within both civil and criminal divisions, including as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona in Phoenix; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandra, commonly known as the “rocket docket;” and as a trial attorney for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division in Washington, D.C.

The firm said al-Taie’s white collar defense practice is focused on federal and state regulatory schemes, including before self-regulatory organizations. Her securities and compliance practice includes cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs), virtual exchanges, the EB-5 visa program, anti-money laundering rules (AML), and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) issues. al-Taie works on antitrust/competition issues, including private party litigation, Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filings, mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, government investigations, and high-stakes private-party antitrust litigation, the firm said.

The firm also announced that George Tate joined Akerman in March, working in construction litigation in Orlando. Former SEC branch chief Douglas Paul and Michael Kelly joined Akerman’s Washington, D.C. office in January, and trial lawyers Amy Doehring and Ellen Robbins also recently joined Akerman’s Chicago and Los Angeles offices.

A Thompson & Knight trial team earned a unanimous verdict for BP America Production Company in a retrial of a 12-year-old lease termination dispute brought by Laddex, Ltd., an Amarillo-based oil company. Absent further appeals, this verdict could be the final chapter in over a decade of contentious lease termination litigation, according to a release from the law firm.

The release tells the history of the litigation:

In 2013, BP took two lease termination disputes to trial within one month of each other: Laddex v. BP America and Red Deer Resources v. BP America. In each case, the plaintiffs sought termination of large BP leases in the Texas Panhandle. Both cases involved the hot Texas litigation topic of “production in paying quantities,” a doctrine that allows a typical oil and gas lease to continue after its primary term only if the well or wells on that lease produce enough oil and gas to turn a profit.

Laddex was originally tried in June 2013. In that trial, the jury found that the lease failed to turn a profit from August 2005 to October 2006 and further found that a reasonable operator would not continue to operate the Mahler D-2 well for the purpose of making a profit. The effect of these answers was the termination of BP’s lease.

Red Deer went to trial one month later. In that case, the jury found that the well had produced in paying quantities at all relevant times, but that it was not capable of producing in paying quantities at the time it was shut-in on June 12, 2012.

Both cases eventually found their way to the Texas Supreme Court. In Red Deer, the court determined in its 2017 opinion that the only material question asked of the jury was whether the lease produced in paying quantities—and BP prevailed on that question. The result was a reversal and judgment rendered in favor of BP. In Laddex, also in 2017, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the jury charge in the 2013 trial erroneously instructed the jury to limit its analysis only to a specific 15-month period and held that the length of the time period to be considered for determining profitability was for the jury to decide. The court therefore remanded the case for a new trial.

The focus of Laddex is whether the Mahler D-2 well produced enough oil and gas to maintain BP’s almost 50-year-old lease. In order for the 1971 lease to remain valid, it needed to produce oil and gas in profitable quantities. Laddex’s suit claimed that the Mahler D-2 failed to turn a profit for over a year starting in the summer of 2005, and therefore the lease terminated on its own terms. It was undisputed that the well experienced a significant slowdown for about 15 months, but BP maintained that the lease was still profitable during that time. The well recovered to more normal levels of production in November 2006 and continues to produce near those levels to this day.

BP hired Thompson & Knight for the retrial, which began on April 15, 2019, and concluded mid-day on April 23. The jury ruled unanimously for BP.

The Thompson & Knight retrial team in Laddex v. BP was led by Rob Vartabedian, with support from Alix Allison, Rich Phillips, Conrad Hester, and Connor Bourland. Thompson & Knight’s Rob Vartabedian and Conrad Hester assisted with all aspects of Red Deer, from trial to the Texas Supreme Court. M. Coy Connelly, BP America managing counsel, supervised the successful litigation efforts in both the Laddex and Red Deer suits.

Hanzo has introduced Hanzo Dynamic Investigator for Compliance, an AI-powered online investigations technology that is designed to automate social media and web investigations, according to the company.

“This new data and evidence can help substantiate allegations of misconduct, unethical behavior, and regulatory failure,” Hanzo said in a release. “Corporations can improve their response to the growing volume of hotline reports of harassment, misconduct, bribery, fraud, and other illegal and non-compliant activity that undermine employee confidence and damage a corporation’s culture and reputation.”

The release continues:

Harassment reporting is growing more prevalent in the wake of the #MeToo movement. October 2018 data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) shows there’s been a 12 percent yearly increase in sexual harassment charges filed with the agency.1 The reporting category of “HR, Diversity, and Workplace Respect,” which sexual harassment and misconduct fall under, accounts for 70 percent of all hotline activity in NAVEX Global’s data set, comprised of over 1 million compliance hotline reporting data points from thousands of global organizations. 2

With the increasing volume of whistleblowing and hotline reports of misconduct and newly published guidance from the Department of Justice (DOJ)3, compliance investigators are under pressure to promptly and thoroughly investigate and substantiate claims. Unfortunately, only 41 percent of harassment reports and 29 percent of discrimination reports were substantiated in 2018.4 Moreover, case closure for these types of investigations has crept upwards of 40 days—well exceeding best practice case closure of 30-32 days.5

In short, compliance teams are struggling to promptly confirm a majority of the reports they investigate, due in part to their inability to quickly and easily find the requisite evidence, which undermines program effectiveness and increases long-term corporate risk beyond any specific allegation of misconduct.

With Hanzo Dynamic Investigator, compliance departments can increase investigation efficiency and speed, and equip teams with the knowledge to conduct more thorough interviews.

Christopher Skey has rejoined Quarles & Brady LLP’s Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group as a partner in its Chicago office.

The firm said that Skey, who worked at Quarles & Brady from 2012 to 2016, has more than 20 years of experience in energy regulatory matters, as well as project development, compliance, and a range of commercial and administrative litigation, transactional, and government relations matters. Skey’s energy practice involves the representation of public utilities and energy cooperatives; energy suppliers (electric and natural gas); renewable energy developers and asset owners; municipalities; and large commercial, industrial, and governmental energy users, among others. He was recently recognized by Chambers USA as a leading practitioner in energy regulatory law in Illinois.

Skey served as a judicial law clerk to U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday, Middle District of Florida (Tampa Division), from 2000 to 2003.

Skey is affiliated with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, where he currently chairs the Advisory Board. His civic involvement includes service on the Board of Directors for Books & Breakfast in Evanston, IL. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Law and his B.A. from Northwestern University.

A private equity team led by Mehdi Khodadad has joined Sidley Austin LLP from Cooley LLP, where Khodadad led that firm’s private equity practice. The team consists of Khodadad, partners Josh DuClos and Eric Kauffman, counsel Stacy Crosnicker and several associates.

Khodadad, DuClos and Kauffmann are in Sidley’s Century City office, while Crosnicker is in Washington, D.C.

In a release, the firm said Khodadad and DuClos represent corporations and entrepreneurs along with their private equity and venture capital sponsors in matters related to private and public financings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, leveraged buy-outs, cross-border and other related private equity transactions. Clearlake Capital Group is a long-standing client.

Kauffman concentrates on labor and employment matters, providing strategic support to the technology and life sciences sectors and their private equity and venture capital sponsors. He advises on a wide array of matters, including transactional matters, mergers and acquisitions (both buy-side and sell-side), financings, spinoffs and divestitures, and corporate structuring.

Crosnicker counsels private equity clients and their portfolio companies on issues related to employee benefits that arise in mergers and acquisitions, and guides employers through the transition of employee benefits. She designs and implements equity incentive plans and other compensation arrangements for private and public companies.

Kevin R. Ghassomian has joined Venable LLP’s Tax and Wealth Planning Practice as a partner in both the New York and Los Angeles offices.

The firm said Ghassomian focuses his practice on the personal legal needs of business owners, corporate executives, high-net-worth individuals, and their families. His work involves domestic and international estate planning, with an emphasis on tax minimization, asset protection, business succession, and philanthropy. He also counsels individual and corporate fiduciaries on the administration of trusts and estates, including the preparation of gift and estate tax returns and defense of positions taken on those returns.

Ghassomian previously worked in the New York City headquarters of a global investment company, where he counseled a multinational client base on complex wealth management matters, including foreign and domestic trust planning and related asset allocation strategies.

The firm said Ghassomian is a frequent speaker, a published author, and former professor of law, concentrating his scholarship on estate planning, taxation, and various wealth management topics. He also devotes time to numerous civic and charitable causes, maintaining leadership positions on several nonprofit boards.

Ghassomian received an L.L.M. in taxation from the University of Miami School of Law, a J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law, and a B.A., summa cum laude, in political science from the University of Kentucky, where he received the Vandenbosch Award as the Outstanding Graduating Senior.

The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics will present its 18th annual Compliance & Ethics Institute at the Gaylord National in National Harbor, MD, on Sept. 15-18, 2019.

The SCCE says the event is the primary educational and networking event for compliance professionals across all industries around the world. Each year more than 1,800 attendees from 40 countries attend the institute. Leading industry experts cover real-world compliance issues, emerging trends, and practical applications.

The institute will help participants:

• Understand new and emerging risks and develop strategies for addressing them.
• Gain insights, skills, and tactics to help develop and maintain a more effective compliance program.
• Build connections with compliance professionals at all levels and from around the world.

Register or download the brochure.

Thirteen Texas attorneys from global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP have been recognized in the 2019 Chambers USA Guide, one of the most prestigious listings for business lawyers. In addition, Chambers recognized three practice areas in Texas: Health Care, Intellectual Property, and Real Estate.

Kent Newsome, chair of the Texas Real Estate Practice and co-managing shareholder of the Houston office, received a Band 1 ranking in Real Estate. Thomas J. Bond, the firm’s Austin managing shareholder and co-chair of its Government Law & Policy and Insurance Regulatory & Transactions Practices, earned a Band 1 ranking in Insurance.

Read the complete list of GT lawyers honored by Chambers USA.

A Houston-area utility worker has filed a lawsuit against CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, after he was severely injured in a fall from a company utility pole.

On March 15, 2019, near Tomball, Texas, Garrett Wilder, an employee of electrical contractor L.E. Myers Co., went with his co-worker to the utility pole owned by CenterPoint Energy Houston to do maintenance work, according to a post on the website of Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

The lawsuit says a CenterPoint employee on the site told him to climb the 100-foot pole to install hand and foot bolts with fall protection eyelets. The contractor had climbed approximately halfway up the pole using fall protection gear when one of the handholds that was supposed to be permanently attached to the pole became separated, causing him to fall 40 feet to the ground. Upon impact, Wilder stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. He was revived by his co-worker before being taken to the hospital. After multiple surgeries to his lower extremities and back, Wilder has been transitioned to a long and arduous physical therapy regime, according to the lawsuit.

Provost Umphrey attorney Matthew Matheny is representing Wilder. “Our client has suffered severe, permanent injuries which would have cost him his life if it had not been for the swift action of his fellow employee,” he said.

Wilder is seeking in excess of $1 million in damages for physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, lost wages, disfigurement, physical impairment and future medical bills. He is also asking for punitive damages. The lawsuit is Garrett Wilder vs. CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC in the 269th District Court, Harris County, Texas.

CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, is owned by Utility Holding, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP announced that Davis H. Smith has joined the firm’s Montgomery office as a partner in the Corporate and Securities and Tax practice groups.

In a release, the firm said Smith advises captive insurance companies, risk retention groups and self-insured funds on transactional, regulatory and tax matters. He counsels clients on tax and business strategies in a variety of industries, including participants in regulated industries, including insurance companies and investment advisors, and the professional services industry.

A frequent speaker and writer on tax planning for businesses, including strategies for captive insurance companies, Smith was a co-author of the 2016 update to the Alabama Captive Insurers Act. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Alabama Captive Association and is a member of the Captive Insurance Companies Association.

Smith received his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. He also holds a Master of Laws in taxation from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampden-Sydney College.

Liseanne R. Kelly has rejoined Littler as a shareholder in its San Diego office. Kelly previously served as Director of Employment Law Compliance for Alliance Data, a leading global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions.

In a release, the firm said Kelly counsels in-house legal and human resources teams on matters that arise out of the employer-employee relationship. Her practice includes an emphasis on multi-state incentive compensation plan design and advising national employers on multi-state paid time off policies, leave administration and disability accommodation, and wage and hour issues. Kelly regularly works with clients to draft incentive compensation plans, draft and implement employment policies, and provide counsel on performance management issues.

At Alliance Data, Kelly provided guidance on compliance with employment laws across the country, particularly in California and on multi-jurisdictional issues, the firm said. She also counseled on matters related to incentive and bonus plans, recruiting and hiring, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, leaves of absence, paid leave, wage and hour matters, and disability accommodation.

Kelly received her J.D. from the University of California Davis School of Law and her B.S. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Bloomberg Law reports that the former co-chairman of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP pleaded guilty to conspiracy and faces the possibility of going to prison after admitting he bribed a consultant with $75,000 to have him rig his daughter’s college board scores.

Gordon Caplan is one of the highest-profile parents ensnared in a national college-admissions cheating scandal, according to Bloomberg’s Patricia Hurtado and Janelle Lawrence. “He admitted May 21 he conspired with William Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the scam, and funneled the payment through a charity that Singer ran.”

Prosecutors have said they’ll recommend that Caplan a term as low as eight months in prison and pay a fine of $40,000 on the charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest-services mail fraud.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

A Forbes commentary by contributor George Bradt discusses the implications of Fluor’s recent confirmation of its general counsel as CEO of the troubled company.

Carlos Hernandez was named interim CEO in early May after the former CEO resigned following disappointing quarterly results.

“While there’s no indication of improprieties, everything communicates,” Bradt writes. “The choice of a new CEO speaks volumes about the board’s direction. More often than not, the choice of a General Counsel suggests a defensive posture. We’ll see if that’s the case here.”

“They went with the lawyer. Hernandez’ success is going to be dependent on his ability to apply his governance and compliance skills to production management,” he adds.

Read the Forbes commentary.

Jones Day is objecting to the use of pseudonyms for four of the six plaintiffs who have sued the Biglaw firm for allegedly discriminating against female partners and associates in compensation.

Above the Law reports that the firm told the judge hearing some of the cases that “the court’s approval of the pseudonyms itself impugns Jones Day’s reputation by implying, without basis in evidence, that Jones Day would improperly retaliate against the Jane Does if their identities were made public.”

The firm’s motion said that “pseudonyms prevent the public—including clients, potential clients, lateral recruits, and law students—from fully evaluating the Does’ allegations and credibility.”

Read the Above the Law article.