Insights

Washington – June 1, 2022: Chambers and Partners has ranked 70 Crowell & Moring lawyers in 84 rankings across 40 categories in the Chambers USA 2022 guide. In addition, 37 practice areas were also ranked in the guide. The regional and national rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers.

Washington – January 3, 2022: Crowell & Moring elected 13 lawyers to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2022. The firm also promoted seven to the position of senior counsel and 19 associates to the position of counsel. The new partners have been promoted from within the ranks of the firm’s London, New York, and Washington, D.C. offices and from across several practice groups, including Advertising & Media; Antitrust & Competition; Corporate; Energy; Environment & Natural Resources; Government Contracts; Health Care; Technology & Intellectual Property; International Dispute Resolution; Litigation; Mass Tort, Product, and Consumer Litigation; and Privacy & Cybersecurity.

On March 2, 2023, the Biden Administration released the 35-page National Cybersecurity Strategy (the “Strategy”) with a goal “to secure the full benefits of a safe and secure digital ecosystem for all Americans.”

On February 17, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that violations of the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) (the country’s first biometric privacy legislation) accrue for each incident of capture or dissemination of biometric information, and not only once for each data subject. Cothron v. White Castle Systems found based on the plain language of the statute that violations for collecting or disclosing biometric information occur at every scan or transaction. Cothron v. White Castle Sys., 2023 IL 128004. The court reached this conclusion while admitting the “absurd” implications, including that the ruling could result in damages of $17 billion. Id. at ¶ 40.

Senator Maggie Hassan (N.H.-D): “My question is, in your planning, did you have a plan for cybersecurity response that included guidance about ransomware?”

Every day, organizations face a barrage of attacks from cybercriminals looking to do harm by gaining access to IT systems and sensitive data. Repercussions from these attacks can be significant—lost business data, legal liability, regulatory scrutiny, and a damaged reputation. To prepare for potential attacks, companies need a robust incident response plan that can be quickly and effectively deployed against cyber threats as they arise.

We would like to invite you to join DXC Technology, Mandiant, and Crowell & Moring at Google's London office for an educational session discussing recent cyber threats, security incidents, and best practices to reduce the risk of compromises.We will learn from organizations that are on the front lines of defending networks and responding to data breaches.We will walk through the anatomy of a data breach, discuss recently observed attack trends, and share learnings to help audience members better prepare for security threats.Following the session, all attendees are invited to stay for lunch.Speakers

Crowell & Moring Partner Evan Wolff, co-chair of the firm's Privacy & Cybersecurity Group, will be speaking at this year's Charleston CyberLaw Forum, which is taking place on January 19th in person at The Charleston Museum (CLE Offered). His presentation, entitled "Cybersecurity for Government Contractors: Tip of the Spear," will start at 12:15 p.m., and he will be joined by Megan Stifel from the Institute for Security + Technology.

In this episode, host Kate Growley and Caroline Brown talk about the regulatory risks of violating sanctions and anti-money laundering laws when considering whether to make a payment to ransomware attackers. Those risks extend beyond the victims of the ransomware attack themselves to include ransomware insurance businesses, payment processors, and companies involved in digital forensics and incident response. Crowell & Moring’s “Byte-Sized Q&A” podcast takes the complex world of government contracts cybersecurity and breaks it down into byte-sized pieces.