Protecting Client Information in the Face of Technology Developments and Cybersecurity Threats

You leave the office with a firm-issued computer. Before heading home you stop for dinner. Can you leave the computer in your trunk or should you bring it into the restaurant? You have been representing a client based in France for years. She sends you a request to erase all of her personal data from all computer systems. Can you comply? Should you comply? When traveling outside the country, a border security agent asks for the password on your mobile device to conduct a search. Should you provide it? The answers to these types of questions are integral to ensuring that you honor your obligation of confidentiality under the Rules of Professional Conduct and properly protect sensitive client data that may be governed by other rules and regulations.

In this CLE, we will:

• Examine a lawyer’s duty to protect client confidences in light of the duty of technological competence
• Discuss two recent ethics opinions from the American Bar Association that offer advice on how to prevent cybersecurity attacks and what to do in the event of a breach
• Explore certain specific provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the anticipated California equivalent, and their impact on our professional obligations
• Use hypothetical scenarios to better understand the application of these principles to our every-day practice.

Our presenters will be:

• Hope A. Comisky, Partner, Pepper Hamilton LLP
• Jessica Kozlov Davis, Director of Professional Responsibility, Pepper Hamilton LLP
• Alex C. Nisenbaum, Associate, Pepper Hamilton LLP

The program is approved for one (1) MCLE Ethics credit in California, New Jersey (through reciprocity), New York and Pennsylvania. Credit for other jurisdictions may be available upon request.

In-person in Philadelphia and live simultaneous videoconference available in the following Pepper Hamilton offices: Berwyn, Boston, Detroit, Harrisburg, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rochester, Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington.

Location

Pepper Hamilton
3000 Two Logan Square
Eighteenth and Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2799

Registration

There is no cost to register.

For more information and to register, please contact Heather Cook at 215.981.4201 or cookh@pepperlaw.com.