Authored By: Frank Gonnello, Jr. and Mary-Jane Rabeony

Employee/Employer Implicated: Governments, globally, but in particular the United States; President Obama; the financial industry, as a whole

Tweet This: Cybersecurity News: Antisecurity Groups Plan Occupation of Wall St. September 17... In Real Life

What’s Going On? The hactivist group that goes by the name “Anonymous” has collaborated with the group Adbusters to organize their nonviolent protest titled “Occupy Wall Street.” On September 17, 2011, dubbed the ‘Day of Rage,’ the groups plan to gather 20,000 individuals and occupy Wall Street and protest peacefully for months until their demands are met. Numerous videos on YouTube have been posted by both groups explaining their plan, stating that “[o]n September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices.” Interestingly, the groups have not articulated exactly what their “one demand” is, except to say “we want freedom.”

Authored By: Gina Barbieri

Citation: Whited v. Motorists Mut. Ins. Co., 2010 WL 3862717 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 28, 2010)

Employee/Employer Implicated: Owners and Corporate Officers

e-Lesson Learned: In cases where extreme tampering with Electronically Stored Information (ESI) is evident, the offending parties’ claims will face dismissal with prejudice.

Tweet This: Destroying Evidence is Self-Destruction (or at least Claim Destruction)

Electronically Stored Information (ESI) is comprised of all of the data held on a computer hard drive. If relevant, it is standard in litigation for the court to order a forensic evaluation of the ESI on a party’s computer during the discovery process. This is particularly true when there is a question as to the authenticity of documents being produced by a party. In this case, an accident left Mr. Whited unable to care for himself. His sister and niece formed Luv-N-Care, LLC, listing Mr. Whited and themselves as the corporate officers of the closely held corporation. The corporation functioned with the sole purpose of providing constant care to Mr. Whited. The payroll for Luv-N-Care was funded by Mr. Whited’s insurance, Motorists Mutual Insurance Company, who was responsible for his care under Michigan’s “no fault” insurance. The legal process was initiated because of a dispute as to the amount of insurance benefits Luv-N-Care was entitled to for their services.

Authored By: Fernando M. Pinguelo and Bradford W. Muller

e-Lesson Learned: Small Businesses Who Get "Hacked" Must Act – Now.

Tweet This: http://ellblog.com/?p=2449 http://ellblog.com/?p=2449">Small Businesses Who Get "Hacked" Must Act – Now --> http://ellblog.com/?p=2449

If you have a credit card or bank account, then you may have received an ominous e‐mail alert discussing the data breach that recently occurred at Epsilon, a third‐party vendor which provides marketing services to many companies. Luckily, the stolen information appears to have been limited to the names and e‐mail addresses of only some customers. Apparently, no account numbers or other confidential information was compromised. Nevertheless, names and e‐mail addresses are powerful tools for certain types of cybercriminals known as "phishers" who use social engineering to target potential victims and lure them into exposing confidential financial information. Users of the Sony Playstation Network may not be as lucky, as upwards of 10 million credit card accounts may have been accessed by hackers in the recent network attack.

Authored By: M.J.R.

Citation: Jannx Medical Systems, Inc. v. Methodist Hospitals, Inc., 2010 WL 4789275 (N.D. Ind., Nov. 17, 2010)

Employee/Employer Implicated: Outside Counsel, In-house Counsel, Senior Management, information technology manager

e-Lesson Learned: Discoverable data must be produced in a reasonably usable form in which it is ordinarily maintained and not in a format more difficult for the requesting party to use in litigation.

Tweet This: Indiana Court hands down a harsh punishment for shady electronic discovery practices!

Not only was Jannx scolded by the District Court on three separate issues, they are now responsible for significant legal fees, and lost a motion to protect their own data. It’s safe to say the Indiana District Court was not impressed with the Jannx legal team. Basically, this case involves a dispute over pre-trial discovery motions between the plaintiff, Jannx Medical Systems and defendants, Methodist Hospital, Crothall Healthcare, Inc., and Propoco Professional Services. The Court issued an opinion and order on Defendant’s motion to get Jannx to comply with electronic discovery and Jannx’s motion to withhold electronic data from discovery by reason of trade secrets, etc.

Authored By: Christopher Dize

Citation: Ahroner v. Israel Discount Bank of New York, etc., et al., 2010 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9087 (Dec. 7, 2010).

Employee/Employer Implicated: Banks, Management, and Attorneys

e-Lesson Learned: Keep your eye on who’s doing what . . . you just might lose your hard drive.

Tweet This: NY Appellate Division Affirms Spoliation Sanctions

In 2002, bank employee Jacob Ahroner was not happy with his employer, Israel Discount Bank of New York. Consequently, in July 2003, he brought suit, alleging hostile work environment and discrimination based on race, age, and national origin. In November 2002, seven months prior to filing the action, however, Ahroner’s attorney wrote to the Bank. The letter informed the Bank that it was “placed on notice that [it] must undertake all efforts to preserve from spoliation all documents and other records relating to our client’s employment, as well as any unlawful conduct of [the Bank] or its employees. As you may be aware, spoliation gives rise to an inference and instruction that the missing documents would have proved the charging party’s case.” The Bank replied that it was aware of its obligations.