Brian J. Willett

Firm/Organization: Reed Smith LLP

Blogs: Financial Services Litigation Report, Technology Law Dispatch, The Policyholder Perspective

Latest Articles

Pennsylvania Superior Court holds county where reputational harm occurs is proper venue for Internet defamation suits, confirming 50-year-old inquiry applies to website-based claims

By Brian J. Willett on May 29, 2019

Addressing an issue of first impression, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled last week that a venue analysis dating to 1967 focusing on the location of dissemination of allegedly defamatory newspapers applied to online defamation suits as well. As a result, the proper venue for Pennsylvania defamation suits based on website content is any county where a third party who knows the plaintiff personally reads the content and understands it to be harmful to the plaintiff’s…

Technology Law Dispatch

Massachusetts High Court issues rulings defining contours of constitutional protection for cell phone location data

By Brian J. Willett on May 5, 2019

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued two rulings last week addressing law enforcement access to and use of cell phone location data. In the first, the court found that pinging a cell phone’s real-time location constitutes a search in the constitutional sense. In the second, the court held that warrantless location tracking was an unlawful search and that information obtained as a result of that tracking was “fruit of the poisonous tree” that the…

Technology Law Dispatch

Recent rulings indicate Fifth Amendment may join Fourth Amendment as critical consideration in courts’ efforts to apply constitutional protections to smartphones and other new technology

By Brian J. Willett on January 23, 2019

The Fourth Amendment right of the people “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects” has been center stage in debates over technology that scarcely could have been imagined at the time it was written. See, e.g., Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018); United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012). With less fanfare, however, the Fifth Amendment has emerged as another critical consideration in recent cases focused on the…

Technology Law Dispatch

Florida Appeals Court rules Fifth Amendment bars compelled production of iPhone passcode, iTunes password

By Brian J. Willett on November 6, 2018

On October 24, 2018, the Florida Court of Appeal for the Fourth District ruled that the state could not compel the production of a defendant’s iPhone passcode and iTunes password because doing so would violate the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination. The ruling in G.A.Q.L. v. State of Florida is encouraging for privacy advocates but may set up a showdown at the Florida Supreme Court, as it conflicts with a 2016 ruling from the Florida…

Technology Law Dispatch

Federal Appeals courts decline to exclude cell phone location information collected without warrants pre-Carpenter, but Carpenter’s future impact still unclear

By Brian J. Willett on August 30, 2018

In his dissent in Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018), Justice Kennedy observed that “the Cyber Age has vast potential both to expand and restrict individual freedoms in dimensions not contemplated in earlier times.” Justice Kennedy worried that the ruling, which held that a warrant is generally required for police to access cell site location information, would hamstring law enforcement by “transform[ing]” prior precedent into “an unprincipled and unworkable doctrine.” The Carpenter…

Technology Law Dispatch

Ninth Circuit affirms class certification denial in genetic information privacy case

By Brian J. Willett on August 24, 2018

In a decision that may give genetic testing companies reason to breathe a sigh of relief, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed on August 21 the denial of a class certification bid by consumers suing under Alaska’s Genetic Privacy Act (the Act). In Cole v. Gene by Gene, Ltd., Plaintiff sought to represent a class of individuals alleging that Gene by Gene, Ltd. (Gene by Gene) violated Alaska Stat. Ann. §…

Technology Law Dispatch

Defendant cites data breach investigation conclusions in discovery response, resulting in the Sixth Circuit finding “Sword and Shield” waiver of attorney-client privilege

By Perry Napolitano, Justin Kontul, Brian J. Willett, Kelley Chittenden & Gerard Stegmaier on January 29, 2018

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently ruled that a data breach defendant waived its attorney-client privilege for investigation-related communications with counsel after disclosing investigative findings in discovery request and relying on the findings to assert affirmative defense. The attorney-client privilege is a powerful tool, but it must be handled with care. To learn more about this case, click here. …

Technology Law Dispatch

D.C. Circuit finds dissemination, but not mere existence, of inaccurate information in government database satisfies Article III standing requirement post-Spokeo

By Brian J. Willett on January 17, 2018

“[I]f inaccurate information falls into a government database, does it make a sound?” Partly affirming summary judgment for the defendant in Owner-Operator Indep. Drivers Ass’n, v. DOT, No. 16-5355 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 12, 2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit answered its own question in the negative and held that a handful of truck drivers lacked standing to sue over the existence of allegedly inaccurate driver information in a government database. However,…

Technology Law Dispatch

Sixth Circuit Suggests Liability for Copyright Infringement May Justify Reduced First Amendment Protection for Anonymous Speech, But Recommends Consideration of Context and ‘Practical Need’ for Unmasking

By Brian J. Willett on December 5, 2017

Ruling on what it characterized as an issue of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit suggested that a judgment of liability in a copyright infringement case may be a tipping point justifying the unmasking of anonymous internet users. The Sixth Circuit remanded Signature Mgmt. Team v. Doe, No. 16-2188 (6th Cir. Nov. 28, 2017) to the district court with instructions to reconsider unmasking the anonymous defendant, finding it had “failed…

Technology Law Dispatch

Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of FCRA Class Claims Based on Job Application Credit Reports Due to Lack of Standing

By Brian J. Willett on August 7, 2017

In yet another appellate court decision signaling the strength of the United States Supreme Court’s 2016 Spokeo decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a pair of putative class actions against Time Warner Cable, Inc. (“TWC”) and Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation (“Great Lakes”) alleging Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) violations because plaintiff job applicant failed to plead an injury sufficient to establish Article III federal standing post-Spokeo.…

Brian J. Willett

Pennsylvania Superior Court holds county where reputational harm occurs is proper venue for Internet defamation suits, confirming 50-year-old inquiry applies to website-based claims

Massachusetts High Court issues rulings defining contours of constitutional protection for cell phone location data

Recent rulings indicate Fifth Amendment may join Fourth Amendment as critical consideration in courts’ efforts to apply constitutional protections to smartphones and other new technology

Florida Appeals Court rules Fifth Amendment bars compelled production of iPhone passcode, iTunes password

Federal Appeals courts decline to exclude cell phone location information collected without warrants pre-Carpenter, but Carpenter’s future impact still unclear

Ninth Circuit affirms class certification denial in genetic information privacy case

Defendant cites data breach investigation conclusions in discovery response, resulting in the Sixth Circuit finding “Sword and Shield” waiver of attorney-client privilege

D.C. Circuit finds dissemination, but not mere existence, of inaccurate information in government database satisfies Article III standing requirement post-Spokeo

Sixth Circuit Suggests Liability for Copyright Infringement May Justify Reduced First Amendment Protection for Anonymous Speech, But Recommends Consideration of Context and ‘Practical Need’ for Unmasking

Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of FCRA Class Claims Based on Job Application Credit Reports Due to Lack of Standing

Company

Support

New to the Network