On October 17, 20180 the American Bar Association issued ABA formal opinion 483 addressing attorneys’ ethical obligations after a data breach that involves information relating to the representation of a client. According to the Opinion, compliance with the obligations imposed by the Model Rules of Professional Conduct depends on the nature of the […]
Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: “Delivering client file to client, maintenance of client files in electronic form.” Digest of the Committee: Where a lawyer keeps client files received in electronic form in that form and a former client requests a copy of the file in paper form, the lawyer must take reasonable measures to deliver […]
Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: “Record retention and electronic storage.” Digest of the Committee: “A law firm may scan original signed retainer agreements into the firm computer system and then destroy the original agreements, provided that the firm maintains the scanned copies for seven years after the events they record. Relevant Law: New York’s […]
On December 9, 2015, the Committee on Professional Ethics of the New York State Bar issued Opinion 1077 providing guidelines on how law firms should keep record of retainer and compensation agreements with clients. A law firm with “a high volume practice” that receives “thousands of signed retainer agreements” every year asked whether they “may […]
Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee Topic: Lawyers’ use of cloud services From the opinion A lawyer may ethically allow confidential client information to be stored in “the cloud” if the lawyer takes reasonable care to assure that: (1) all such information or materials remain confidential; and (2) reasonable […]
On July 1, 2015 the STANDING COMMITTEE ON ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY released Formal Opinion 471 -“Ethical Obligations of Lawyer to Surrender Papers and Property to which Former Client is Entitled” Digest: “Upon the termination of a representation, a lawyer is required under Model Rules 1.15 and 1.16(d) to take steps to the extent reasonably practicable […]
The ABA Journal and the National Law Journal report that a Pennsylvania boutique firm sued 14 lawyers for stealing laptops pertaining to the departed law firm. After the suit was filed, the departing lawyers erased the laptops to preserve what they say were their clients’ sensitive data, and returned the computers. Now the law firm […]
In my talk I will go ahead analyzing the approach of American will provide some elements to understand benefits and risks of cloud computing from an American lawyer’s perspective. I ethics opinions on cloud computing. Then, I will discuss the different implications of privacy law on cloud computing under an American perspective, as opposed to a […]
It only takes one – one patient complaint, one number coming up in a random audit, or one small device with unencrypted patient information that disappears from a car or apartment or tumbles from a backpack or purse tossed onto a restaurant chair. The cost of compliance with HIPAA protocols and documentation sure seems small […]
From the Article: “The increasing number of data theft and espionage incidents in cyberspace has been widely reported, and law firms have become particularly attractive targets. One data security company reports that 10% of the advanced cyberattacks it investigated in the past 18 months were targeted at law firms.” The full text is available […]