Photo of Thomas F. Zych

Tom is a co-chair of our Privacy & Cybersecurity team and chairs the firm's Emerging Technologies practice. Tom has over 38 years of experience in a wide range of data protection, intellectual property, consumer protection, social media, competition and antitrust matters. Tom represents a full range of business enterprises in their privacy and data security operations.

Blogs are a great way to market your legal practice and the more visually compelling the better.  Careless use of social media and its visual impact can spell real trouble, though.  We’ve posted about things to watch out for in responding to on-line reviews, using Facebook and sharing on-line opinions.  Now comes another

A prominent Chinese dissident may proceed with his malpractice case against a law firm based on allegations that the firm failed adequately to protect his personal data from hackers, a Washington, D.C. district court said in an opinion on February 20.  In his $50 million suit, the plaintiff, Guo Wengui, alleges that after he retained

The outlines of the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine are well-established. But how should they apply when an organizational client suffers a cybersecurity event or other intrusion that results in a data breach?  Should information about the company’s security policies pre-breach and its post-breach response be given any enhanced protection? Under what circumstances?

The questions

Law firm cybersecurity is in the news again with two developments. First, the latest ABA TechReport says that large law firms were more likely to be victims of a data security breach last year than mid-size or small firms, with one in seven respondents having been hit overall. That’s a big deal. Next, a federal class action complaint in what is thought to be the first suit attempting to base liability solely on a U.S. law firm’s allegedly inadequate cybersecurity was unsealed on December 9. But that suit possibly turns out not to be such a big deal.
Continue Reading Data breach report says BigLaw is most likely to be hit, and cybersecurity complaint is unsealed

Under deadline pressure to produce a brief? You’ve found one online in a public database that fits your case to a T? If you’ve always thought that you can make free use of another lawyer’s brief, think again. You just might get sued for copyright infringement — successfully. In Newegg Inc. v. Ezra Sutton, P.A., a California U.S. district court made that point earlier this month, when it granted partial summary judgment to plaintiff Newegg on its infringement claim — but Newegg has come in for some criticism for pushing the case.
Continue Reading Can you copyright your legal brief? District court says “yes,” and finds infringement

PhishingAs Willie Sutton supposedly said, he robbed banks “because that’s where the money is.”  That also explains why law firms and lawyers are increasingly the targets of cyber-intrusion, particularly phishing scams.  Apparently, phishing in legal waters can yield a full net of stolen information.

“Most likely” to take the bait

Verizon’s 2015 Data Breach