A spring newsletter

Spring has officially sprung. And with those first few glints of sunshine, we also seem to have good news here in the UK from our Government about our lockdown roadmap. But before we head full swing into March (where has the year gone already?), why not take a read of some of our A&M commentary over the past few months to ensure you're up to speed with all the news here.

Phil Beckett - With Fraud Against UK Businesses at Epidemic Levels, Businesses Need to Know How to Protect Themselves.

This article by Francesca Titus, Chloe S. Steele and Alice O'Donovan is an interesting read all about the increased risks and the advice being given to businesses in order to allow them to protect themselves. The data certainly does make for... Read More.

Robert Grosvenor - EU Commission gives UK green light for EU data transfers for GDPR and Law Enforcement.

The European Commission has announced today that it has formally launched the adoption process for two adequacy decisions concerning the transfer of EU personal data to the UK. The decisions cover data transfers in relation to the General... Read More.

Phil Beckett - Advice for businesses in dealing with the expanding coronavirus events.

This is a good round up of news from the courts of England and Wales from December of last year from Simon Airey, Jack Thorne, Alison Morris, Jonathan Robb & Gesa Bukowski at Paul Hastings. Of particular interest to me was the write up of the... Read More.

Phil Beckett - Electronic Discovery & Information Governance – Tip of the Month: 2020 Tips of the Month: A Compilation.

Do you recall the year that was 2020?! Feels like a long time ago already... This is an interesting post that brings together a summary of the Mayer Brown team’s top tips from 2020. In short, it’s a useful reflection of some of the key talking... Read More.

Phil Beckett - For attorney’s eyes only: who gets to see commercially sensitive documents during litigation?

I enjoyed reading this piece from Osborne Clark looking at how commercially sensitive materials can be protected during disclosure. This can often be a topic of concern, especially where competing organisations are involved in a dispute.... Read More.

Peter Kwan - Change Within a Change: The New Political Reality in the U.S. Also Ushers in the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA).

After Congress successfully overturned a Presidential veto of the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA") for Fiscal Year 2021 (thereby enacting it fully), a lesser known subsection entitled the "Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020" was also... Read More.

Phil Beckett - Document disclosure for more than one case.

This is an interesting document by the team at Rahman Ravelli looking at the use of the same document sets used in civil proceedings for parallel criminal cases. Not being a lawyer myself, I cannot comment on the legal dimension of this document,... Read more.

Phil Beckett - 2021: Ten key challenges and opportunities.

What does this year have in store for corporate firms? Take a read of this piece on the Freshfields blog to find out more about how COVID-19 will impact the corporate world, what is in store in terms of new innovations, how ESG will continue to be... Read more.

Phil Beckett - UK competition authority publishes research on harm by algorithm.

Everyone is probably familiar with pricing algorithms through their own personal lives, be it with insurance quotes or airline tickets or a host of other products/services. However, as Matt Hervey on Loupedin (the Growling blog) points out, these... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Dentons White Paper: Key lessons from the first major GDPR fines for cyber breaches.

This is a good old ‘lesson learned’ article by the team at Dentons regarding some of the first major GDPR fines for cyber breaches. Their final takeaway is paramount in my opinion. They note, “unsurprisingly, in all three cases, the main... Read more.

Linda Orton - Using Bridgerton to Discuss Corporate Diversity & Inclusion.

This week Bridgerton became Netflix's most successful series to date. While there are many reasons for the extreme popularity of the adaptation of Julia Quinn's nine novel series, I believe this Regency romance has an additional, and perhaps more... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Can a litigant use an access request as a means of obtaining quasi-discovery?

This is such an interesting story as it takes a look at how there is a potential to use parts of the CCPA to obtain quasi-discovery in certain circumstances. In fact, this is not dissimilar to some of the experiences we have had here in the UK at... Read more

Christopher Woodhead - EDPB publishes practical guidance on data breach notification and remediation.

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published on 14 January 2021 its ‘Guidelines on Examples regarding Data Breach Notification’. This supplements earlier Article 29 Working Party guidelines in this area, providing more focused... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Musketiere in Dawn Raids.

Now I appreciate this article is in German, but if you are able to translate the copy, it is all about searches around cartel investigations, which is a topic I am really interested in. If you haven’t got time to translate this, and if you only... Read more.

Phil Beckett - 5 Important E-Discovery Trends And Developments In 2020.

I wholeheartedly agree with this 2020 review piece on Law 360. The 2020 trends and developments laid out by the authors (Jim Calvert, Alison Grounds and Briordy Meyers) are so interesting and well worth a read if you have a few... Read more.

Robert Grosvenor, Stephen Miller, Matthew Negus - Developing a Pragmatic Framework for Managing Data Transfers.

In this client update we cover some of the practical challenges that should be considered in the design and implementation of framework to manage international data transfers and for compliance with the Schrems II decision. To address these... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Cyber litigation will be the new battleground in 2021.

As you may know, I do love a good predictions piece about what to expect in the coming year and this one is definitely an interesting read from the team at Clyde&Co. Ultimately cyber risk is a growing concern for many organisations and they... Read more.

Louis Konig - Investigative Considerations for Proposed FinCEN rules for Crypto wallets.

In an attempt to prevent private cryptocurrency wallets from being used for ransomware attacks and terrorist financing, FinCEN proposed a new set of regulations in late December. The proposal requires counterparty KYC for customer... Read more.

Kenneth Cochran - Retail Transformation.

Retail is not going away- but it certainly is being transformed. Check out a recent article For Retailers and Retail Consultants, 2020's Holiday Shopping Season is Like No Other in Consulting.com to hear from consumer and retail experts across... Read more.

Schellion Horn - Back to the Future (for MTRs).

The European Union has recently announced a maximum mobile termination rate of EUR 0.2 cents per minute - to be applied across the EU on a "benchmarking basis". This takes me back to pre 2002 and the introduction of the European telecoms... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Obtaining Discovery Relating To a Confidential Private Mediation.

If you have a moment, download this PDF about confidential private mediation from NYLJ.com Now I won’t comment on the legal merits here, but that aside, I cannot stress enough how important these issues are within the discovery context. As always,... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Is your intellectual property at risk in the new era of working from home?

This is certainly a question that I am regularly asked and something I often think about. Certainly, the increased risks of remote working due to the pandemic are becoming more and more prevalent. And companies need to consider how they control... Read more

Phil Beckett - Overhaul of Discovery Procedures Recommended.

This article on the McCann website is an interesting look at how the Irish courts are contemplating disclosure and the changes that they are considering. The authors note that the proposed new materiality standard is to be welcomed, as it would... Read more.

Kristin Kohler Burrows - What Career Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self?

Please check out the other advice I would give to myself and some of my (many) lessons learned throughout my career! Read more

Phil Beckett - What The Data Says About EU Privacy Shield Ruling's Impact.

Another good read, especially if you have a more global outlook to your role – and who doesn’t these days. If you weren’t already aware, the European Court of Justice's invalidation of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield earlier this year in its Schrems II... Read more.

Pearl Singhal - The Death and Rebirth of Retail.

The #pandemic has accelerated the death knell for retail and paved way to the rebirth of retail (as we will know it moving forward). Read more about the ~$5 trillion opportunity at hand and our perspectives on short, mid- and longer-term... Read more.

Phil Beckett - 5 GDPR Compliance Tips From UK Ticketmaster Fraud Fine.

This piece on Law 360 covers off five key learnings from the UK Ticketmaster fraud fine. The piece highlights how the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office's ￡1.25 million fine against Ticketmaster over cybersecurity failings that exposed... Read more.

Stephen Miller - Regulatory collaboration in digital markets: CMA, ICO and Ofcom form Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum.

In addition to publishing its advice to government, the Digital Markets Taskforce has setup a Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF), bolstering already strong working relationships, with the aim of achieving 'coherent, informed and... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Justices Asked To Rule On Arbitration Discovery Question.

Here’s some breaking news today that’s just come out in Law 360; Justices have been asked to rule on arbitration discovery question. The U.S. Supreme Court was asked Monday to decide whether U.S. law allows federal courts to order discovery for... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Disclosing documents for “Attorney’s eyes only”.

This piece by the team at Burges Salmon makes for some interesting reading. Jeremy Dickerson takes a look at how one manages “attorney’s eyes only” documents. For those who may not be aware what ‘eyes only documents are’, they are documents... Read more.

Phil Beckett - A deep dive into DPAs: seven takeaways from the new DPA guidance in the SFO’s Operational Handbook.

The team at Herbert Smith Freehills have written a good piece here on the 7 takeaways from the new DPA guidance in the SFO’s Operational Handbook. The new DPA guidance is published within the Operational Handbook, a document that the SFO uses as a... Read more.

Phil Beckett - Pay Per View - Security for Costs and Discovery.

Here is an interesting view from Ireland focusing on the security for costs in respect of eDiscovery. Costs are always an interesting element of Discovery debates, and this case is no exception. The judge laid out a number of criteria to be... Read more.