Welcome back to another Top 10 in Law Blogs! This week, John Reed Stark wrote a guest post on Kevin LaCroix’s “The D&O Diary” blog, giving in in-depth analysis of the dire ramifications of the SEC shutdown and increasing risks to U.S. markets. 2019 might just be another banner year for investments in Legaltech; LexBlog Editor in Chief, Bob Ambrogi, reported on recent news of a $135 million investment in e-discovery company, DISCO. LexBlog Founder and CEO, Kevin O’Keefe reflected on mass layoffs of journalists across the country, illustrating that the work of good citizen journalists and legal bloggers is more important now than ever.
Guest Post: Why the Shutdown Must End–By John Reed Stark: Among the agencies largely closed by the current partial U.S. federal government shutdown is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the following guest post, John Reed Stark, President of John Reed Stark Consulting and former Chief of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement, takes a look at what the SEC’s closure means for…View Full Post
Will lawyers step up after this week’s mass layoffs of journalists?–By Kevin O’Keefe: Yesterday brought word of mass layoffs at Buzzfeed and HuffPost. Today brought news that Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, is slashing jobs across the country. Investors are likely looking to reign in losses at the first two and it’s possible Gannett is looking to get more profitable asap now that a hedge…View Full Post
The U.S. Government Shutdown: Ripple Effects North of the Border–By Taisha Lewis: Now in its fifth week, the U.S. federal government shutdown has become the longest in U.S. history. The partial shutdown began on December 22, 2018, following a stalemate between Congress and President Donald Trump over funding for a wall at the Mexican border. Many government services and agencies have been halted: NASA, the Smithsonian museums,…View Full Post
EU-Japan Adopt Mutual Adequacy Decision–By Jetty Tielemans and Anna Oberschelp de Meneses: Update to previous post from August 17, 2018] On January 23, 2019, the European Commission and Japan mutually recognized each other’s data protection laws as providing an adequate level of protection of personal data (see European Commission press release here). As a result, nearly all personal data can now flow freely between the EU and…View Full Post
U.S. Regains an Elected Leadership Position at the ITU After 25-year Hiatus–By Michael Fitch: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a specialized organization of the United Nations which addresses international communications and information technology, regulatory, and policy issues. Its origins date back to the formation of its predecessor in 1865, the International Telegraph Union. It plays a crucial role in promoting efficient sharing of spectrum and compatibility of communications…View Full Post
California Expands Protections for Military Servicemembers with Student Loans–By Keith S. Anderson: With the start of the new year, California has expanded protections for military servicemembers with student loans. Student loans incurred by a protected servicember before entry into service have an interest rate cap of 6 percent during the period of service plus one year thereafter. Additionally, student borrowers can obtain a deferment on their payment…View Full Post
Another Whopper Legaltech Investment: $83 Million in E-Discovery Company DISCO–By Bob Ambrogi: It seemed like it would be tough to top 2018, which was a banner year for investments in legal technology, with the total hitting $1 billion. But then, two weeks ago, came news of a $200 million strategic investment in Houston-based Onit, and now comes news of another major investment in a legal technology company_ $83 million…View Full Post
Cambria, Flaherty and Um to Baker McKenzie: Is Baker Ready For the Likes of Them?–By Stephen Embry: Roy Storm of ALM broke the news early this week that Casey Flaherty, owner of the consulting firm Procertas and former GC of Kia along with legal pundit Jae Um will join the legal bemouth, Baker McKenzie. They will join recently added David Cambria, affectionately called the “Godfather of legal operations,” in an effort, according…View Full Post
Throwing Doubts to the Wind: an Interview with Tebogo Movundlela, the CEO of Aurora Wind Power–By Julie Scotto: Tebogo Movundlela is the CEO of Aurora Wind Power, which is operating the West Coast 1 wind farm in South Africa. Owned by a consortium formed by Engie and South African investors (Investec Bank Limited and Kagiso Tiso Holdings), Aurora Wind Power celebrated the commercial operation of its 94 MW wind farm in June 2015….View Full Post
CNIL Fines Google €50 Million for Alleged GDPR Violations–By Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP: On January 21, 2019, the CNIL imposed a fine of €50 million on Google LLC under the GDPR, its first fine under the GDPR and the highest fine imposed by a supervisory authority within the EU under the GDPR to date...View Full Post