Data privacy, data breaches, information security and electronic discovery are hot-button topics that will become of critical importance to the legal industry in 2020.
With a rising occurrence of ransomware attacks taking place locally, particularly against government agencies, expect to see more cyber-related litigation and class-action suit attempts in Baton Rouge when an organization’s data has been breached.
Historically, many class-action suits involving data breaches have been decertified due to difficulties with establishing standing, says attorney Jessica Engler of Kean Miller. That’s because the plaintiffs typically are unable to establish that they were actually injured by the breach, only that they suffered an increased likelihood of their information being stolen.
But Engler predicts the litigation process will be made easier for many businesses by the California Consumer Privacy Act, which went into effect Jan. 1. The act will affect Baton Rouge companies that conduct business in California and either bring in at least $25 million in annual revenue or receive 50% of their revenue from purchasing consumer data.
“If those companies haven’t started taking a look at it yet, it’s definitely time to do so,” Engler says.
Another area likely to explode within the legal profession is electronic discovery, or the preservation of electronically stored information used as evidence in legal matters. Read the full story from the latest edition of Business Report.
