Implementing Best Practices Before and After a Security Breach Can Mitigate Corporate Risk
Victims of personal data security breaches are showing their displeasure by terminating relationships with the companies that maintained their data. A 'National Survey on Data Security Breach Notification,' released Sept. 26, 2005 by privacy think tank Ponemon Institute and sponsored by White & Case, indicates that 19% of Americans who have received notification that their personal data had been compromised due to a breach have terminated or plan to terminate their relationship with the company where the security breach occurred. Another 40% say that they are considering whether to take their business elsewhere as a result of the breach, and a whopping 58% say that the incident has decreased their trust and confidence in the company. Percentages set forth in this article are based on the total number of survey respondents who reported receiving a breach notification.
Court Watch
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Practice Tip: Suing Experts in Product Liability Cases
It is not pleasant to contemplate suing an expert hired to testify for your client. Nevertheless, an attorney's cautious and prudent behavior may be enhanced and professional anguish minimized by frank consideration of the unpleasant possibilities.
A Regulatory Lawyer's Perspective: The FDA's Guidances on Risk Assessment, Minimization and Management
In the pharmaceutical industry, due to all types of business pressures and constraints, it is not atypical for a company to behave reactively and in triage-mode, rather than considering proactive steps that it can take in the compliance arena. In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") issued three final guidance documents to help focus the industry and encourage companies to consider more thoughtfully and thoroughly the issues of quality risk assessment, minimization, and management collectively.
Think Twice, Click Once: E-mail Guidelines
Document retention, and the host of related e-discovery issues, have been front and center for product liability attorneys for a number of years. Nevertheless, even with the best document retention program and the most sophisticated e-discovery system, companies and their attorneys are still going to have to deal with the documents themselves. As many trial lawyers have learned, it can take only one bad document to bring down the house. With respect to the increased use of e-mails as evidence in litigation, companies need to educate their employees on what constitutes appropriate online communication. We recommend that companies focus on training their employees to 'think twice and click once.'
Case Notes
Highlights of the latest Product Liability cases from around the country.
Online: 'WHO' Site Provides Health, Vaccination Information
For information about vaccines, visit the World Health Organization Web site, <i>www.who.int/immunization/en/</i>. The goal of the World Health Organization ("WHO"), the United Nations specialized agency for health established in 1948, is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health is defined in WHO's constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
