Congressional Sledgehammer Drops On DHS Cyber Insecurity
Client Alert | 1 min read | 09.27.07
Following a series of tough investigations and oversight hearings on cybersecurity in April and June with more to come, the House Homeland Security Committee dropped the hammer on DHS and its contractors in a letter on September 21, 2007, finding that cyber attacks on federal and contractor IT systems "have resulted in the loss of massive amounts of critical information," characterizing DHS and contractor responses as "misleading" and subject to potential criminal penalties under 18 U.S.C. 1001, and demanding a DHS IG investigation -- and referral for "criminal investigation" if appropriate. With contractors operating over 1,100 federal IT systems subject to the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), future security breaches virtually assure Congressional investigations, as the Homeland Security Committee promised: "The Committee will continue to investigate security breaches, particularly those occurring among commercial contractors."
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.12.26
DOJ Guidance Backs Away From Disparate Impact Liability
On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a formal opinion concluding that the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission’s (EEOC) existing interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) disparate-impact liability, including the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), are unconstitutional. According to the opinion, EEOC’s prior interpretations contemplate liability based on disproportionately adverse effects alone, without regard to an employer’s likely intent, rather than treating disparate impact as an evidentiary mechanism to “smoke out” intentional discrimination. DOJ found that this approach functions as a “qualified racial-proportionality mandate” that places “a racial thumb on the scales, often requiring employers to evaluate the racial outcomes of their policies, and to make decisions based on (because of) those racial outcomes.” The opinion fulfills one mandate of Executive Order 14281, which rejected disparate-impact liability insofar as it “creates a near insurmountable presumption that unlawful discrimination exists wherever there are any differences in outcomes among different [demographic groups].”
Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.12.26
Auto Dealers: The FTC Is Back in the Driver’s Seat — Warning Letters Signal Renewed Federal Scrutiny
Client Alert | 13 min read | 06.12.26
Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.12.26
