News

Virginia Adopts the Consumer Data Protection Act

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

On March 2, Virginia passed HB 2307 (Ch. 36) to enact the Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), which becomes effective Jan. 1, 2023.

New York DFS Announces Settlement With Insurance Company Under Cybersecurity Regulation

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

On April 14, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) announced a cybersecurity settlement with insurance company National Securities Corporation, which suffered four separate breaches, two of which went unreported in violation of 23 NYCRR § 500.17(a). The settlement not only i

Eleventh Circuit Holds Commonplace Use of Letter Vendors May Violate FDCPA and Further Expands Consumer Standing in Huntstein v. Preferred Collection

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

To start with the headline, on April 21, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that a debt collector sending personal identifying information to dunning letter vendors states a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap-and-Trade Program Enacted by Washington Legislature

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

The Washington Legislature passed Senate Bill 5126, the Climate Commitment Act, on April 24, 2021, which establishes a greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-invest program for utilities, industrial facilities, and other operations with greater than 25,000 metric tons of emissions.

Not All’s Well That Ends Well: The Seventh Circuit Misapplies Daubert, but Still Delivers a Victory

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

The nature of advocacy makes it hard sometimes for lawyers to focus solely on the outcome and the bottom line result. How a court gets there may not matter much to the prevailing party in the dispute as they celebrate the win, but it may have an impact on later cases.

Europe Seeks to Tame Artificial Intelligence with the World’s First Comprehensive Regulation

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

In what could be a harbinger of the future regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States, the European Commission published its recent proposal for regulation of AI systems.

If You Can’t Build it, They Won’t Come: No Obviousness Based on Fanciful Engine Design

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

Reaffirming that a person of ordinary skill in the art must have been able to actually create a disclosure at the time of invention in order for it to serve as an obviousness reference, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a decision by the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (the

Biden Signs EO for $15 Federal Contractor Minimum Wage

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

WHAT: As anticipated, President Biden issued an executive order (EO) on Wednesday raising the minimum wage to $15 for many employees of federal contractors, effective January 30, 2022.

Supreme Court Eliminates FTC’s Ability to Seek Restitution in Federal Court Actions Without First Using Its Administrative Process: Will There Be a Congressional Override?

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

On April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court resolved a circuit split as to the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to seek restitution in a federal court action under the Federal Trade Commission Act (“Act”) without first obtaining a final cease and desist order in an administrative proceeding under th

FBI Releases IC3 2020 Internet Crime Report Showing Record Increase in Cybercrime

By EsqSocial Corporation 29/04/21

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (“IC3”) recently released its annual report, the 2020 Internet Crime Report (“Report”), which gathers statistics from nearly 800,000 complaints of suspected cybercrimes that the department received in 2020.

Pages