Cybersecurity

The Am Law Second Hundred firm faces two suits in Florida state court and two in federal court over a March 2025 breach that allegedly impacted 65,000 potential class members.

The U.S. District Court in New York ruled in United States v. Heppner that communications between a defendant and a generative AI platform, Claude, are not protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine. The court emphasized that AI platforms are not legal professionals, lack a confidential relationship, and the user’s communications with them are not private, especially since the platform’s privacy policies disclose data to third parties. Even though Heppner claimed he used Claude to discuss legal matters with his attorney, the court found no evidence he did so at his lawyer’s direction. This decision highlights that advanced AI communications do not enjoy legal privilege under current law.

Costs from a data breach can spiral quickly, but there are ways to mitigate any fallout beforehand and for legal to work collaboratively with IT in making post-breach assessments.

Kate Morris and Russ Pearlman joined Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal on Wednesday, as Hosch & Morris closed in the wake of the disappearance of co-founder Charles Hosch.

The cyber insurance industry has long been dominated by conversations around security threats. Privacy concerns were often treated as an afterthought. But recently, there has been a critical shift: privacy risks that arise outside of traditional breaches are now front and center.

The use of AI does not alter fundamental obligations of accuracy, reasonableness and accountability. The legal risk lies not in the existence of hallucinations but in the failure to govern and verify them.

Across the country, AI users and their families are alleging chatbots contributed to serious concerns for users’ health (including minors). This has prompted a new wave of litigation against chatbot operators, and encouraged lawmakers to consider statutory and regulatory reforms.

The law firm's cyberattack exposed 10 of its clients' data, the firm confirmed in a statement, and the attack appears to have come from a hacker group that targets law firms.