Professional Liability Matters

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January 26, 2015 • Cyber-Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Professional Liability Matters

Employer Liability for Privacy Breach?

Professionals are often entrusted with confidential information. Ethical rules as well as federal and state laws limit when such information may be accessed by professionals and under what circumstances it may be disseminated. Sure, professionals may be held accountable for errors that result in the unintended disclosure of confidential or sensitive data. However, liability is not limited to the professional directly responsible for the breach; rather, employers may be on the hook too. In fact, the employer may be responsible even if the employee’s conduct was illegal or in violation of company policy.

January 22, 2015 • Cyber-Liability, Professional Liability Matters

National Cyber-Security: The President Weighs In

Data breaches and cyber-security issues are hot topics. Any company that utilizes electronic means to conduct business, obtain and store information or customer data is subject to the risk of a data breach. The effects of a breach can be devastating. We have recently blogged about practice pointers and tips for companies and boards of directors to be gleaned from high-profile breaches such as the one facing Sony. Against the backdrop, President Obama weighed-in on the significance of cyber crime.

January 20, 2015 • Professional Liability Matters, Risk Management, Technology

No More “Signing” on the Dotted Line

E-mails rule the business world. Due in part to the sheer volume of e-mails we receive, many professionals use standardized email signatures, which are automatically inserted at the bottom of an email. The shift to more transactions occurring by email raises the question: what constitutes a legally binding signature? A recent decision by the California Court of Appeals addressed the issue of when an e-mail may constitute a binding signature. The decision underscores the importance of understanding the validity of electronic signatures and the statutory requirements for your jurisdiction.

January 16, 2015 • Ethics, Law Practice Management, Professional Liability Matters

Ain’t Nothin’ But A “G”ift Thing – Ethics of Accepting Client Gifts

Rapper Dr. Dre recently made headlines when he gifted each member of his legal team a holiday “bonus,” in sums of $10,000 and up. While undoubtedly very generous, is such a grand gesture from a client to an attorney ethically permissible? It depends.

January 13, 2015 • Employment Practices Liability, Professional Liability Matters

Company Wellness Programs: More To Love or The Biggest Loser?

Reportedly nearly 2/3 of us resolve each new year to improve our fitness level (yet ¾ of us don’t achieve that goal). Maybe our employers can help? Employers are beginning to offer financial incentives to workers who take part in wellness programs that include screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index. But, these programs are under scrutiny by the EEOC, which recently filed suit targeting wellness programs deemed involuntary. The lawsuits bring into focus what seem consider an inconsistency between the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

January 7, 2015 • Law Practice Management, Professional Liability Matters

My Colleague’s Keeper: Duties of Subordinate Attorneys

Our prior posts in this three part series have explored the benefits of the law firm structure and the responsibilities of supervising attorneys at a firm. In the conclusion of this series, we turn to another integral part of a law firm’s structure: subordinate attorneys and their duties and responsibilities with regard to taking directives from supervisors when ethical questions are implicated.

January 6, 2015 • Professional Liability Matters, Risk Management

No Merit for Outsiders

Many states have enacted some version of an “affidavit of merit” (AOM) requirement for professional malpractice claims. We’ve blogged in the past about the significance of affidavit of merit requirements, including the potential advantages from a defense perspective when a plaintiff fails to comply with the applicable state statute. Professionals involved in malpractice suits will want to take note of a recent decision by a New Jersey appeals court, which addressed the state’s affidavit of merit statute and limited affidavits of merit to the same professional field at issue.

December 30, 2014 • Employment Practices Liability, Professional Liability Matters

What is Work? New Definitions for the New Year

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), employees are entitled to compensation for “hours worked.” However, what is considered compensable work time is a contentious topic for many employers. A recent decision by the Supreme Court is likely to help clarify the test for compensable work under the FLSA and effectively end much of the current litigation faced by employers surrounding back wages and overtime pay. This month, in a rare unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that employees’ time spent waiting for and undergoing security screenings is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

December 23, 2014 • Cyber-Liability, Professional Liability Matters

Lessons from Sony: Cyber Attack

Sony Pictures recently became the target of a sophisticated and debilitating digital attack. The first signs of the hack appeared in late November, when an image of a skull flashed on every employee’s computer screen accompanied by a threatening message that the company’s internal data had been compromised. The company initially experienced a shutdown of many of its computers. In the following days, the hackers began to leak private company data. Five Sony films, including four unreleased projects were leaked online, along with compensation information for the top seventeen Sony executives and social security information for more than 6,000 current and former employees. In addition, countless confidential email exchanges were exposed to the public. One month on, Sony continues to suffer fallout from the attack, including the suspension of several film projects due to the inability to process payments, and a decision earlier this week to cancel the release of the upcoming comedy The Interview.