Worldwide: Disclosure & Electronic Discovery & Privilege

Following a two year investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office ("AGO"), a local Massachusetts hospital has agreed to pay $775,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to protect the personal and confidential health information of more than 800,000 consumers.

What if the story of your life was written at birth- a "future diary" available for someone to read? The decoding of the human genome over a decade ago held the promise of defying our genetic destiny, but it also foreshadowed some significant ethical issues on the horizon.

On May 22, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

Contractual provisions limiting the types of damages that are available in the event of a breach are common in various types of commercial contracts.

On May 9, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") charged former Detroit mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, former city treasurer Jeffrey W. Beasley, MayfieldGentry Realty Advisors, LLC ("MGRA") a registered investment adviser, and Mayfield the CEO and majority owner of MGRA, in connection with allegations that they were involved in a secret exchange of lavish gifts to peddle influence over Detroit’s public pension funds’ investment process.

Wisconsin has adopted Article 7 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which creates a statutory lien in favor of a warehouse on goods in possession of a warehouse to secure costs of storage and transportation.

On May 9, 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") charged former Detroit mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, former city treasurer Jeffrey W. Beasley, MayfieldGentry Realty Advisors, LLC ("MGRA") a registered investment adviser, and Mayfield the CEO and majority owner of MGRA, in connection with allegations that they were involved in a secret exchange of lavish gifts to peddle influence over Detroit’s public pension funds’ investment process.

A recent California federal court decision denied certification to a putative class of Facebook "cost-per-click" advertisers who allegedly were charged by Facebook for fraudulent or invalid clicks on their advertisements.

On February 16, 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") proposed a new rule which defines the contours of CFPB’s authority to supervise certain debt collectors and consumer reporting agencies to ensure their compliance with federal consumer financial laws ("Proposed Rule").

In a case very closely watched by the financial services industry, the Supreme Court yesterday unanimously rejected the effort to broaden the reach of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA").

A person who receives an automated debt-collection call on his cellular phone in violation of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act can choose to file a lawsuit.

Last Term, the US Supreme Court held in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011),