Offshore law firm defends practice, admits hack
An offshore law firm has admitted that it was the victim of cyber security incident last year and has defended its practice amid media criticism.
Appleby says that it reviewed its cyber security and data access arrangements following an incident which involved some of its data being compromised.
The Bermuda-based firm says it has been contacted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and other media claiming to have seen documents regarding the firm’s business and that of some of its clients.
In a statement, Appleby says:
“Appleby has thoroughly and vigorously investigated the allegations and we are satisfied that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, either on the part of ourselves or our clients. We refute any allegations which may suggest otherwise and we would be happy to cooperate fully with any legitimate and authorised investigation of the allegations by the appropriate and relevant authorities.”
Some media outlets are drawing comparisons with the Panama Papers scandal which rocked law firm Mossack Fonseca and many famous and rich clients worldwide.
Appleby says it is disappointed that the media is using information from documents that were potentially obtained illegally, and exposing innocent parties.
Fixed fees increase share in litigation cases
Fixed fees made up 77% of the alternative fee arrangements used in litigation cases defended by corporate counsel representing US firms.
They were among the alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) used by 58% of respondents in the annual Litigation Trends Survey from
Norton Rose Fulbright.
Most respondents (79%) said they had been sued in the last 12 months with labour and employment, and contracts, making up the largest share of disputes. Contract litigation saw the largest increase, from 35% in 2016 to 43% in 2017.
The survey shows that 30% of an in-house legal team’s budget is spent internally but those who spend 41-60% in-house spend the least on litigation.
Fewer respondents said that regulators are more interventionist (74%) compared to 2016 (97%).
Meanwhile, more respondents (63%) said they felt more exposed to disputes involving cyber incidents.
“For large companies that work with massive amounts of sensitive personal data, data protection is an absolute imperative. A single cyber event has the potential to expose a business to class actions and serious reputational risk. These are high stakes, and this report looks at measures companies take to mitigate this increasing risk,” Gerry Pecht, Norton Rose Fulbright’s Global Head of Dispute Resolution and Litigation.
Divorce lawyers could use automated car data says MP
A British politician has warned that data from automated vehicles could be used in divorce and employment cases.
Greg Knight says that legislation should make clear who has access to the data created by the vehicles ahead of their proliferation in the coming years.
