Citing a growing need to protect client confidentiality in the face of dangerous and sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals, the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates passed a resolution on August 12 calling on federal, state, and local governments to pass strong laws combating unauthorized intrusion into lawyers’ computers and networks.
The house of delegates, which sat for two days during the ABA’s annual meeting taking place in San Francisco through August 13, also urged lawyers and law firms to do their part to preserve their clients’ confidentiality by keeping abreast of technological advances and complying with cybersecurity safeguards. The resolution urged the United States government to work with other nations to create “legal mechanisms, norms and policies” punishing and deterring cyberattacks against law firms and lawyers, and encouraged lawyers to keep their clients reasonably informed in the event of a breach.
