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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

CYBER INSECURITY - Add cyberthreats to the growing list of things to hate about COVID-19. As the pandemic pushed everyone to remote work, hackers and cyberscammers pounced. But one scheme, in particular, has been a problem for years and keeps ensnaring law firms of all sizes. "Spear-phishing" attacks—in which a target is induced to reveal confidential information or transfer money by a hacker impersonating, via email, someone the target knows—have bested everyone from a tiny suburban Pennsylvania firm to 10,000-plus-lawyer Dentons and, as recently reported by Dylan Jackson, 1,400-plus-lawyer Holland & Knight. In our latest Law.com Trendspotter column, we look at how and why this keeps happening, as well as how to prevent it from happening to you.

SALT LAKE STRUGGLES - There is a lot about Salt Lake City's legal market that is unique compared to its larger counterparts. For one thing, the largest firms by headcount are local ones. For another, there isn't much lateral movement between those firms. But as David Thomas reports, the city's law firms haven't escaped the pandemic-induced economic fallout that's impacted so many of their peers across the country. At least 23 firms based in Salt Lake City borrowed between $26.85 million and $64 million from the federal government in an effort to keep lawyers and staff on the payrolls at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the U.S. Small Business Administration. And even with the help of those loans, a number of firms said they've been forced to make salary cuts in order to keep people on their payrolls.

TRY, TRY AGAIN - Here's one for #MotivationMonday: Never let a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against you keep you from pursuing your dreams. It sure hasn't stopped President Donald Trump. As Jacqueline Thomsen writes in her latest Trump Watch briefing, POTUS has been hit with a string of SCOTUS losses, but he's still looked for…uh…creative ways to advance the key policies at the heart of those decisions anyway. From the census to DACA, Thomsen breaks down how Trump has sought to dodge adverse Supreme Court decisions with executive orders and memos.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

3 Young People Charged in Twitter Hack By Alaina Lancaster Justice Department Loses Bid to Decertify Immigration Judges' Union By Jacqueline Thomsen

You've Seen Hulu's 'Mrs. America' — Now Hear the Real Story By Vanessa Blum and Zack Needles

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

PROLONGED ATTACK - Just in case you were still skeptical of the cyberthreat facing law firms: Hannah Roberts reports Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has unearthed an online group of hackers that it says has been targeting law firms for the best part of a decade. The group, called the Deceptikons APT, is also described by Kaspersky in a webinar briefing note as having targeted a set of European law firms last year with spearphishing attempts."In all likelihood," the briefing said, "the group's motivations included obtaining specific financial information, details of negotiations, and perhaps even evidence of the law firms' clientele."

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WHAT YOU SAID

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"It isn't going to happen tomorrow. If you talk to five people who were there, they will all say this is a movement rather than a moment."

— Daniel Brown, litigation partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton and chair of the firm's pro bono committee, explaining that the overall takeaway from the Law Firm Anti-Racism Alliance's first summit in Chicago last week was that the group's efforts will require detailed structure and organization.

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