In a ruling by the US Court of Appeals on Aug. 24, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the authority to prosecute corporations that have insufficient cybersecurity to protect customers against hackers.

The Third Circuit ruled in favor of the FTC, which litigated the international hotel company Wyndham Worldwide Corporation for failing to prevent the theft of 619,000 customer’s personal and financial information by hackers. The hacking resulted in over $10.6 million in counterfeit charges.

Wyndham attempted to counter the Commission’s lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals, but the recent ruling declared the FTC’s actions legal.

The FTC will be expected “to increase its regulatory activity in this area now that its authority has been upheld,” says Michael Hindelang, head of the data security/privacy litigation and e-discovery/information management practice groups at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn.

 

Article via Legaltech News, August 26, 2015

Photo: statue at Federal Trade Commission via sha in LA [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]

While writing has always been part of the practice of law, many top firms have gone above and beyond by becoming more accesible to the public through blogs. More than 80% of BigLaw, or firms included in Am Law 200, are blogging, and approximately 962 individual blogs are being run by those firms and their attorneys.  Of the 962 blogs, 916 are “firm-branded”, with the firm claiming ownership of the blog and its content, but the rest are operated by individual lawyers. The latter is decreasing, though, as more firms take note of how blogs can be used to generate interest and eventually clients for the firm. With this in mind, the average firm runs six blogs, with each catering to different areas and topics. The most popular topics for blog posts range from employment and labor all the way to healthcare. Also, as law is changing and welcoming the new questions that technology brings, some more recent blogs focus on intellectual property, insurance, and international law. Even though blog topics are addressing relevant concerns, most law firms are not utilizing newer resources such as responsive design, which makes blogs more accessible to readers using mobile devices.

Though law firms can certainly use blogs as part of their marketing, many firms opt out of making them a part of their site, instead only including a link to the firm’s website on the blog. This opens up many more options for the blog, including possible inclusion in articles by Google News or the ability to have a profound effect on opinions in a certain area. Developing this influence in a particular niche is something the most visited blogs do well, along with posting frequently and being well-maintained. By only focusing on a specific area, certain blogs are quickly becoming a main source of news for topics such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or pharmaceutical patents and intellectual property. Blogging about specific but relevant topics in an easy-to-read manner keeps readers returning to read more.

Article via Above the Law, July 8, 2015

Photo: Untitled via SuzieWong [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs]