On March 23, 2018, President Trump signed the CLOUD Act–which was attached to the omnibus spending bill–into law. The CLOUD Act is a necessary update to the United States’ laws concerning issued warrants to businesses located in the United States for data stored overseas. The CLOUD Act modifies the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”). When the…
Author: Jonathan Slack
Wells Fargo’s Punishment: A New Approach to Corporate Governance or Just a Mirage?
Wells Fargo Co., one of the largest banks in the United States, has been punished by multiple government actors for its allegedly deceptive banking practices dating back to 2011.1 From 2011 to 2015, the bank’s employees opened roughly 1.5 million new bank accounts and applied for 565,000 credit card accounts that may not have been…
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act: A Law Past its Prime
In 1986, Congress passed the Stored Communications Act within the broader Electronic Communications Privacy Act (“ECPA”).1 In that year, Ronald Reagan was President, the U.S.S.R. suffered the Chernobyl disaster, and the price of gas was about 89 cents. Neither the internet nor the e-mail system existed. Obviously, a lot has changed since 1986, yet the…
Microsoft is Moving Away from Billable Hours. Will Others Follow their Lead?
Microsoft announced this summer that it wants 90% of its outside counsel work to be paid for through alternative fee arrangements.1 Microsoft intends to utilize large retainer fees to encourage more collaboration between the company and its outside counsel.2 One could be forgiven for assuming that Microsoft believes shifting away from billable hours will cut…