Management Liability Update

Archive for May, 2010

Most Important Lesson Learned from Supermarket Data Breach

Icon May 25, 2010 – 7:01 am

It has been over two years since the grocery chain Hannaford Brothers announced a breach of its network security that exposed over 4 million credit card numbers and led to 1,800 cases of fraud.   In fact, a quick review of the Privacy Clearinghouse’s Chronology of Data Breaches shows that Hannaford is not the only supermarket chain to have [...]



Small Professional Service Firms Put Implementation of FTC Red Flags Regs on Hold

Icon May 24, 2010 – 6:53 am

According to a recent article in Lawyers USA, small and middle market business owners are so jaded by the number of times the FTC has delayed enforcement of its Red Flags Regulations, they have pushed compliance to the back burner.  Tanya Forsheit, of InformationLawGroup, is quoted in the article as saying, “I suspect a lot of [...]



Law Firms Need to be Diligent on Delinquent Accounts

Icon May 18, 2010 – 8:01 am

Times remain tough for law firms.  The legal sector lost another 1,100 positions in April  – making it the second month in a row of four-digit losses.  Since April 2009, the legal sector has lost a total of roughly 28,000 jobs.   It is no surprise some firms are choosing to sue clients for non-payment rather than work [...]



Colorado Casualty: Stolen Health Records Not a Covered Event

Icon May 18, 2010 – 7:25 am

As detailed by the Salt Lake Tribune, Colorado Casualty Insurance Co. contends it is not obligated to cover costs incurred in 2008 by the University of Utah after tapes containing electronic medical billings records on 1.7 million patients were stolen from a car.   The insurer filed a declaratory judgment action on April 9, 2010 seeking a declaration that the commercial [...]



White House Cyber Security Plan Focuses on EHR Management

Icon May 14, 2010 – 7:14 am

According to an article in Government Health IT, the White House is looking to develop a network security strategy “that pays particular heed to the importance of building a trusted arena for electronic health care transactions.”    Howard Schmidt, the White House Cyber Security Czar, said at a May 11 HIPAA conference on privacy and security that the [...]



Law Firms Feel the Data Breach Heat and Start Buying Insurance

Icon May 13, 2010 – 7:53 am

Here are just a few of the many network security and privacy (NSAP) headline incidents that have hit law firms over the years: “Employee at a Palo Alto law firm steals 90 laptops and 120 desktop computers and sells them” “Eighteen laptops stolen from the Orlando office of a major law firm” “Paralegal at a New York [...]



The $60 Email

Icon May 3, 2010 – 8:14 am

By now most have heard of the lady who fumed when a courtesy eight word e-mail response (“I hope everything is O.K.  Take your time.”) was billed by her attorney at $60 (.2 hours x $300 hourly rate).   Her experience left her asking one question:  “How does anyone treat people like this and still manage to stay in business?”  [...]