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Finally Heard – Cyber Help for Small Businesses is on Its Way

Client Alert | 1 min read | 08.22.18

New cybersecurity legislation was recently passed that aims to help smaller government contractors in their efforts to safeguard sensitive customer data. The NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to issue guidance and resources, within the next year, to help small- and medium-sized businesses identify, assess, and reduce cybersecurity risks. Partly in response to the rising number of cyberattacks targeting small businesses, the legislation is the latest in a series of efforts more broadly focused on supply chain security throughout the procurement process. Under the Act, NIST must also:

  • Ensure future resources can vary with the nature and size of the small business, as well as the nature and sensitivity of the data handled.
  • Encourage the use of technology neutral, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions.
  • Promote awareness of basic controls, a workplace cybersecurity culture, and third-party stakeholder relationships.

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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].”...

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