Regulation

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) made headlines on by announcing a 'first-in-the-nation,' comprehensive cybersecurity regulation, which will mandate 16 'minimum standards' for the 4,000+ institutions operating under DFS jurisdiction. The regulation was released on Sept. 28.

Gilbert Chagoury, a British billionaire and philanthropist was denied a visa last year to enter the United States because, according to the U.S. government, he was suspected of supporting terrorism. Chagoury denies the allegation, saying the U.S. Department of State relied on bad intelligence. And now he's suing federal agencies that he claims leaked information about him to a reporter. His suit is thought to be the first case brought under the Judicial Redress Act, which President Barack Obama signed in February.

Across organizations, a similar process (more or less) is followed when conducting e-discovery, but the steps often happen in quick succession or nearly simultaneously. The steps are loosely defined by the FRCP and the judicial interpretation that flows from them. The recent changes to the FRCP will inevitably result in the steps shifting and evolving in the coming months and years.

Printers can contain sensitive information, or can be an entry point for hackers. It's imperative that law firms shield printers against hackers.

Although attorneys are rapidly becoming familiar with structuring digital data requests and responding to those requests in a way that is thorough, but reasonable, most attorneys feel at sea in the e-discovery ethics arena.

When it comes to initiating employment legislation, we're living in a time when state and city lawmakers are the change agents. From adopting equal pay legislation to raising the minimum wage or instituting paid parental leave, inaction by the United States Congress has resulted in many states and cities taking matters into their own hands.

States are scrambling to shore up sales tax revenues that are eroding because of e-commerce sales. A new approach to sales tax collections involves information reports on customers' online purchases. This approach may create potential legal claims against many online companies for giving too much information about customers to state tax agencies or even to the customers themselves.

On April 5, 2016, the DOJ issued an Enforcement and Guidance Plan concerning the FCPA. While the new Plan could be interpreted as a novel departure from past precedent, careful analysis reveals that it does little to alter or clarify how the DOJ will review cases or reward companies for significant cooperation in addressing anti-corruption global issues.