99 per cent of law firms vulnerable to email fraud, finds report
Robust defence of law firms’ online presence is critical to £26 billion industry, claims OnDMARC
Almost all law firms are still vulnerable to email fraud, according to a new report from cloud data intelligance firm OnDMARC.
With phishing and ransomware attacks very much on the rise in recent years, this is of real concern to the industry, which is in charge of protecting large volumes of confidential customer information.
With law firms under a duty to replace any lost client monies, OnDMARC warns that the financial burden of future email fraud attacks could be crippling.
“With over 10,000 law firms operating in the UK, handling sensitive and hugely confidential commercial and private data, there is a real opportunity for scammers to target the legal sector,” said Dr Rois Ni Thuama, head of cybersecurity governance partnerships and legal, OnDMARC. “Many law firms either don’t understand the risk or assume that their existing email systems will do the job of protecting them, even though our study very quickly demonstrated that it’s all too easy for a criminal to exploit these firms’ email domains in order to impersonate the company and send out fraudulent messages to external clients and stakeholders,” he added.
The financial burden on law firms who find themselves breached in this way could be further compounded by fines of up to four per cent of annual turnover once the EU’s General Data Protection Legislation comes into force in May 2018.
The research shows firms questioned by OnDMARC assumed that their existing IT security solutions would cover their organisation against sender fraud. According to OnDMARC, this is because these solutions don’t provide compliance with DMARC (domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance), a recently ratified email protocol that has been approved and endorsed by the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, as the only sure-fire way of stamping out email spoofing.
“We’re usually quick to blame human users as the most insecure element of the cyber security chain, but in the case of email spoofing, it’s the basic email systems that are being duped, which is a big reason why legal firms have experienced losses, mainly via phishing, of over £3 million in just three months,” continued Ni Thuama.
Holland & Hart LLP and NCET present Attorney Fritz Battcher at Law on Tap
Holland & Hart LLP and NCET host Law on Tap, Thursday, Sept. 7, 5:30 – 7 p.m. at West Street Market. The professional networking series discusses relevant topics in northern Nevada’s vibrant business community.
Attorney Fritz Battcher will discuss legal and practical considerations when raising capital for a business. Guests can learn about:
1. Structuring a company
2. Types of funding
3. Investor classifications
4. Trends and definitions
5. Q&A
“With Reno’s growing atmosphere of entrepreneurial minds, we want to provide resources that apply to all sizes of businesses and types of fundraising,” said Battcher. ”Comprehending the components of raising capital is just the beginning of structuring a successful business.”
Guests will enjoy complimentary select wine from West Street Wine Bar and appetizers from Cafe DeLuxe within the casual atmosphere of West Street Market.
Fritz Battcher works closely with entrepreneurs by helping emerging businesses and their owners bring ideas to life. He assists clients through the complex strategy of mergers and acquisitions, public and private security offerings and other corporate matters.
To RSVP to this event, please email: rsvp@theabbiagency.com
###
About Holland & Hart LLP:
Established in 1947, Holland & Hart LLP is a full service, national law firm that today has more than 500 lawyers in 16 offices across the Mountain West and in Washington, D.C. delivering integrated legal solutions to regional, national, and international clients of all sizes. Holland & Hart’s attorneys have consistently been recognized by leading national and international peer and industry review organizations for innovation and dedication to the practice of law. The firm was ranked No. 16 nationally among 300-plus law firms on BTI Consulting Group’s BTI Client Service 30 2016 and for the sixth consecutive year was named to BTI Consulting Group’s BTI Most Recommended Law Firms 2016 by corporate counsel. For more information, visit www.hollandhart.com.
Tory government launches ‘secretive amnesty’ for up to 3,000 firms that fail to pay minimum wage
The Tory government has launched a “secretive amnesty” for up to 3,000 firms who failed to pay the minimum wage.
Businesses will be able to repay cheated workers without being fined or exposed publicly under the programme, which launched around a month ago.
Since a crackdown began in 2013 more than 1,000 firms have been named, shamed and issued penalties for failing to pay staff the minimum wage.
Yet some firms are allowed to dodge this process if they identify underpayments themselves and refund workers.
The government claims this ‘self-correction’ system, which dished out £10million in back pay over the last two years, is “not a soft option” and is only used in “appropriate situations”.
But HM Revenue and Customs has now written to around 3,000 firms it deems at “higher risk” of not paying the legal minimum – and offered them the chance to use the scheme.
(Image: Getty)
A blog on business consultancy giant PWC’s website boasted the move was “good news” because “it provides an opportunity for employers to deal with historical risk with reduced costs and minimal reputational impact.”
The blog claimed many breaches of the law were “technical” because it is so complicated.
But Green party leader Caroline Lucas said the scheme was “disturbing”.
She told the Mirror: “It is not at all clear to me why serious breaches of minimum wage law should go unpunished.
“It’s not good enough for serious offenders to simply pay the arrears owed.
“Such a secretive amnesty makes a mockery of ministers’ repeated claims to have strengthened enforcement with higher penalties and the naming and shaming scheme.”
(Image: PA)
The scheme is aimed at small and medium-sized firms. Firms cannot use it if they have a history of minimum wage breaches or a current live investigation.
HMRC has not yet revealed how many firms have taken up the offer to repay arrears, or how exactly it decided they were at “higher risk”.
Minimum wage offenders rarely face criminal charges – even when they are named and shamed and issued penalties for breaking the law.
The government says prosecutions are reserved for the most serious cases because otherwise it takes longer for workers to get their wages back.
Just 13 firms were successfully prosecuted for minimum wage offences between 2007 and January this year.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Employers should not still be making mistakes nearly 20 years after the minimum wage was introduced.
(Image: Adam Gerrard/Daily Mirror)
“The minimum wage must be fully enforced, whether employers are deliberate cheats or simply careless.”
HMRC stressed firms will be “fully investigated” if they fail to repay all wage arrears voluntarily and there are “robust assurance processes” to check this happens.
Despite launching with little fanfare, officials insisted the move was not a secret because last year’s Autumn Statement promised “additional support targeted at small businesses to help them to comply”.
An HMRC spokeswoman said: “HMRC is committed to getting money back into the pockets of underpaid workers.
(Image: Getty)
“As announced at Autumn Statement 2016, we are writing to businesses inviting them to check that they are following the NMW rules.
“All businesses involved will be expected to repay any arrears which may be owed. This applies to any business as long as they have not been investigated for NMW breaches in the past.
“Last year, HMRC investigated over 2,600 businesses, identifying over £10.9 million of underpaid wages for more than 98,000 workers.
“HMRC responds to every complaint received and takes risk based enforcement action to ensure workers receive what they are entitled to.”
12 firms, part of RBI second list, owe Axis Bank Rs 2,492 cr
Private sector lender Axis Bank on Friday said 12 companies — part of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) second list of defaulters — owe it Rs 2,492 crore. While Rs 1,843 crore is in the form of funds-based exposure, the rest was not based on funds.(Image: PTI)Private sector lender Axis Bank on Friday said 12 companies — part of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) second list of defaulters — owe it Rs 2,492 crore. While Rs 1,843 crore is in the form of funds-based exposure, the rest was not based on funds.The bank said in a regulatory filing around 75% of the outstanding is secured and the bank has already set aside Rs 862 crore as provisions. Jairam Sridharan, chief financial officer, told a business news channel that it loans are secured, banks require 50% provisioning and for the unsecured portion, they require a 100% provisioning.
Asked if he expects resolutions before the RBI deadline, Sridharan said a few would be resolved, but most of them will have to be referred to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The central bank had advised banks on August 28 to finalise and implement viable resolution plans in select accounts by December 13, failing which insolvency proceedings should be initiated against borrowers. The new list, bankers said, includes Videocon Industries (gross debt of Rs 47,554 crore), IVRCL (Rs 3,579 crore), Uttam Galva Steels (Rs 5,041 crore), Soma Enterprises (Rs 1,895 crore) and Asian Colour Coated Ispat (Rs 3,019 crore).
Previously in June, the RBI had asked banks to initiate the insolvency resolution process in 12 accounts under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015 (IBC). The RBI had added that details of the resolution framework, in regard to the other non-performing assets (NPAs), would be released in coming days. Axis Bank had said in June that it has exposure to eight of the 12 accounts mandated by the RBI to be sent to the NCLT. The bank had said while its total funds-based outstanding on the eight accounts stood at Rs 5,071 crore and non-fund based outstanding was `212 crore, around 80% of the outstanding was secured.
Oil Firms That Cheered Regulatory Cuts Are Quaking on Nafta
Energy companies that sat on the sidelines during other recent trade negotiations are getting more involved on Nafta.
(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration is easing environmental regulations and opening up territory for drilling as part of the president’s bid to unleash the “vast energy wealth” of the U.S. Yet Donald Trump’s push to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement could have the opposite effect.
As Nafta negotiations resume Friday, oil industry leaders are desperate to preserve the 23-year-old trade deal that drove a North American oil and gas renaissance and paved the way for $34 billion worth of energy exports to Canada and Mexico last year.
“Any changes that disrupt energy trade across our North American borders, reduce investment protection or revert to high tariffs and trade barriers that preceded NAFTA could put at risk the tens of millions of jobs,” said the top oil and gas trade groups from the U.S., Canada and Mexico in a joint position paper released last month.
Energy companies that sat on the sidelines during other recent trade negotiations are getting more involved on Nafta — securing formal roles on committees advising the process, unleashing lobbyists to influence it and outlining their priorities for the administration. Armed with a modest wish list, the industry is mostly in a defensive posture, terrified Trump will torpedo the current deal or weaken existing provisions that allow investors to sue countries over discrimination, seizures and other injustices.
“We want to make clear in a thoughtful way that there’s really no reason to disrupt the energy component of Nafta,” American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said in an interview. “Over time, this has really evolved to a very efficient marketplace in North America with Canada, Mexico and the United States. It’s a mature system that’s well in place, and they’re just no reason to disrupt it.”
‘In the Crosshairs’
Trump has raised the possibility of an American exit from the deal at least three times since negotiations began last month.
“You may not necessarily be in the crosshairs, but if you don’t maintain a focus on it, you could be collateral damage,” Stephen Comstock, the American Petroleum Institute’s director of tax and accounting policy, said in an interview.
When Nafta was signed almost a quarter-century ago, the U.S. was importing roughly half of its daily oil and petroleum needs. Canada’s oil sands — now churning out 2.4 million barrels of crude a day — were just getting started. And Mexico still had a monopoly on its own energy development, blocking foreign businesses from drilling or processing oil in the country.
“Oil and gas has grown from an incidental discussion point to an enormous target of opportunity,” said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners LLC. “Because energy is such a big deal in North America — a lot’s changed, not just in the U.S. but with Canada’s oil sands as well as Mexico’s reforms — energy could become an important hostage to the negotiations.”
Nafta facilitates duty-free trade of gasoline and other energy products. It also serves as the legal pathway for rising gas sales to Mexico — 4 billion cubic feet a day last year, or about 60 percent of U.S. natural gas exports. Because Mexico is a free-trade partner, natural gas exports to the country qualify for liberalized treatment under a U.S. law.
Arm in Arm
So far, North American oil and gas groups are collaborating, linked arm in arm as they advocate the same broad portfolio of changes. One possible exception: efforts by U.S. oil and gas interests to ensure any new trade agreement locks in recent reforms opening up Mexico’s energy market for foreign investment.
U.S. companies are increasingly intertwining their operations with activity on both sides of the border.
Chevron Corp., which has a representative cleared to serve on an energy-focused committee of Nafta advisers, stressed in comments filed with the federal government that its supply chain extends across North America. Chevron relies on manufacturers in all three countries to provide equipment, parts, repair services and chemicals.
Unbroken Chain
“Disrupting these supply chains would directly harm U.S. businesses,” the company warned.
12
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Copyright 2017 Bloomberg News.
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The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin Celebrates 20 Years…
Three years ago the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin was named one of the 5000 fastest growing privately-owned companies in the U.S. On September 1st, the firm celebrates 20 years representing NC clients.
Durham, NC (PRWEB) September 01, 2017
On September 1st, 1997, the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin opened its first location in Durham. Triangle locals may remember the distinctive black and white “We Mean Business” TV commercials that launched the firm into the public eye.
The firm experienced exponential growth and 10 years later led the charge in one of the largest civil-rights cases in U.S. history – a battle against the United States government, which resulted in a $1.25 billion* settlement for more than 18,000 African American Farmers who had been discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
This earned the firm national recognition. The year following the settlement, the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin was named to Inc. 5000’s list of the fastest growing privately-owned companies in the U.S.
Today, as the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin is one of the largest law firms in North Carolina. They have nearly 200 employees, including 43 lawyers, and 14 offices across the state. They estimate they have earned over $750 million* for more than 30,000 clients since that first day in 1997 – not including the class action settlement.
Farrin attributes the firm’s success to its employees and their willingness to challenge the status quo.
“When I began hiring people, I gave them the latitude to innovate and be creative in their efforts and their thinking. I believe this innovative spirit has helped us win many cases for our clients, and subsequently expand in ways I’d never imagined.”
One example of the firm’s ability to innovate lies in two proprietary software programs they developed. They received two patents in conjunction with the software programs, which are scheduled for release by year’s end.
In an interview with “Attorney at Law” magazine Farrin said, “What may be unique about us is that while we value the craft of lawyering and are very serious about it, we spend a whole lot of time also mastering the business craft.”
The result is something that firms across the nation have been eager to try to replicate. Many have toured Farrin headquarters meeting with the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin’s consulting wing, Upcycle Legal, in further efforts to grasp how the firm is able to continue to push the envelope of the traditional law firm business model.
Farrin believes continued growth is dependent on striving to do the very best possible for each and every client, and investing in his people and the community at large.
Firm employees report non-traditional benefits like free Fitbits, nutritional counseling and other health incentives, periodic speakers on topics from wellness to financial management to handling stress, and a plethora of volunteer opportunities. The firm offers employees a variety of committees of interest and importance – a Green Team, a Social Services Committee, a Wellness Committee, and a Latino Outreach Committee – all geared toward finding ways the firm can better their community and their staff.
Employees plan to celebrate the firm’s 20th anniversary by purchasing 20 trees to plant in a Durham park.
*Each case is unique and must be evaluated on its own merits. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Re: Historic litigation against the U.S. government, the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin led a team of firms to recover $1.25 billion for African-American farmers from the U. S. government for discrimination.
ABOUT THE LAW OFFICES OF JAMES SCOTT FARRIN
The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin is headquartered in the American Tobacco Historic District, adjacent to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, in Durham, North Carolina, with 13 additional offices statewide in Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, Goldsboro, Henderson, New Bern, Raleigh, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Sanford, Wilson, and Winston-Salem. The firm’s 43 attorneys focus on the following practice areas: Personal Injury, Workers’ Compensation, Social Security Disability, Eminent Domain, Intellectual Property, Civil Rights, Mass Torts, and Products Liability. Seven of the attorneys are North Carolina Board Certified Specialists in Workers’ Compensation Law and one is a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Social Security Disability Law. The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin is involved in the community, including sponsorship of local philanthropic organizations.
Contact Information:
David Chamberlin
280 S. Mangum Street, Suite 400
Durham, NC 27701
866-900-7078
http://www.farrin.com
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/08/prweb14643220.htm
Flexibility available to men too in law firms workplace
Father’s Day, a timely reminder to law firms
workplace flexibility available to men too
It’s
Father’s Day this weekend (Sunday, 3 September) and the
New Zealand Law Society is reminding law firms that
workplace flexibility is also available to men.
18-weeks
Paid Parental Leave (PPL) is a government funded entitlement
paid to eligible mothers and other primary carers such as
adoptive parents, Home for Life Parents, whāngai,
grandparents with full-time care, and other permanent
guardians.
The payments go towards loss of income when
taking parental leave to care for a new born baby or a child
under six years old.
A human rights and employment lawyer,
Kathryn Dalziel, says essentially if ‘Dad’ is the
primary care-giver, then he too is eligible for Paid
Parental Leave.
Ms Dalziel who is a member of the Law
Society’s Human Rights and Privacy Committee, says this is
perhaps a fact often overlooked by society because the
traditional ‘father’ is often perceived as the main
household breadwinner.
“I think it is wrong to assume
workplace flexibility is just for women. Considering the
rates of burnout in the legal profession which affects all
genders. The fact is many men want to spend time with their
families, and the new generation coming into the workforce
who are demanding work-life balance means workplace
flexibility is likely to become the norm in the future,”
she says.
Ms Dalziel says when it comes to unconscious
bias in the workplace, the focus and concern of it
(unconscious bias) occurring is mostly directed at female
employees.
“Yet all employers have to watch for
unconscious bias, and that includes towards men who may need
time with their children. In our business we have two women
law firm partners so we have to be careful too,” she
says.
She says workplace flexibility is a relatively
‘new kid on the block’, but then the dynamic of the
modern family has changed which needs to be reflected by
employers.
“I think that women have been accommodating
this “career interruption” for longer than men so it may
take a while for men to look at this option.
“However in
time, it will become the norm for both men and women. I
think it will challenge some people just as gender fluidity,
and different forms of sexuality challenges people. That’
ok, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she
says.
ENDS
© Scoop Media
Oil Firms That Cheered Regulatory Cuts Are Quaking on Nafta (1)
(Bloomberg) — The Trump administration is easing environmental regulations and opening up territory for drilling as part of the president’s bid to unleash the “vast energy wealth” of the U.S. Yet Donald Trump’s push to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement could have the opposite effect.
As Nafta negotiations resume Friday, oil industry leaders are desperate to preserve the 23-year-old trade deal that drove a North American oil and gas renaissance and paved the way for $34 billion worth of energy exports to Canada and Mexico last year.
“Any changes that disrupt energy trade across our North American borders, reduce investment protection or revert to high tariffs and trade barriers that preceded NAFTA could put at risk the tens of millions of jobs,” said the top oil and gas trade groups from the U.S., Canada and Mexico in a joint position paper released last month.
Energy companies that sat on the sidelines during other recent trade negotiations are getting more involved on Nafta — securing formal roles on committees advising the process, unleashing lobbyists to influence it and outlining their priorities for the administration. Armed with a modest wish list, the industry is mostly in a defensive posture, terrified Trump will torpedo the current deal or weaken existing provisions that allow investors to sue countries over discrimination, seizures and other injustices.
“We want to make clear in a thoughtful way that there’s really no reason to disrupt the energy component of Nafta,” American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said in an interview. “Over time, this has really evolved to a very efficient marketplace in North America with Canada, Mexico and the United States. It’s a mature system that’s well in place, and they’re just no reason to disrupt it.”
‘In the Crosshairs’
Trump has raised the possibility of an American exit from the deal at least three times since negotiations began last month.
“You may not necessarily be in the crosshairs, but if you don’t maintain a focus on it, you could be collateral damage,” Stephen Comstock, the American Petroleum Institute’s director of tax and accounting policy, said in an interview.
When Nafta was signed almost a quarter-century ago, the U.S. was importing roughly half of its daily oil and petroleum needs. Canada’s oil sands — now churning out 2.4 million barrels of crude a day — were just getting started. And Mexico still had a monopoly on its own energy development, blocking foreign businesses from drilling or processing oil in the country.
“Oil and gas has grown from an incidental discussion point to an enormous target of opportunity,” said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners LLC. “Because energy is such a big deal in North America — a lot’s changed, not just in the U.S. but with Canada’s oil sands as well as Mexico’s reforms — energy could become an important hostage to the negotiations.”
Nafta facilitates duty-free trade of gasoline and other energy products. It also serves as the legal pathway for rising gas sales to Mexico — 4 billion cubic feet a day last year, or about 60 percent of U.S. natural gas exports. Because Mexico is a free-trade partner, natural gas exports to the country qualify for liberalized treatment under a U.S. law.
Arm in Arm
So far, North American oil and gas groups are collaborating, linked arm in arm as they advocate the same broad portfolio of changes. One possible exception: efforts by U.S. oil and gas interests to ensure any new trade agreement locks in recent reforms opening up Mexico’s energy market for foreign investment.
U.S. companies are increasingly intertwining their operations with activity on both sides of the border.
Chevron Corp., which has a representative cleared to serve on an energy-focused committee of Nafta advisers, stressed in comments filed with the federal government that its supply chain extends across North America. Chevron relies on manufacturers in all three countries to provide equipment, parts, repair services and chemicals.
Unbroken Chain
“Disrupting these supply chains would directly harm U.S. businesses,” the company warned.
In Mexico, U.S. businesses captured five of the eight deep-water oil and gas blocks awarded during December 2016 bidding. Andeavor, formally Tesoro Corp., just opened its first ARCO-branded filling station in northwestern Mexico — with plans for more as the company leverages refineries in El Paso, Texas, and Los Angeles to provide fuel while using newly contracted pipeline capacity to transport it.
For companies with commercial interests in Mexico, the status of Nafta negotiations is vital to managing bilateral relations, said a lobbyist for an oil company with Mexican operations who asked for anonymity amid private negotiations. The stakes are even higher for the energy sector given the constitutional reforms in Mexico, the lobbyist said.
Industry officials from all three countries are eyeing the deal as a way to seek more regulatory certainty and the harmonization of industry standards, something factored in to other trade accords. Canada, for example, may use the negotiations to push for more predictability surrounding the approval of pipelines and power lines crossing into the U.S., following years of squabbling over TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL project.
Aggressive Lobbying
Energy companies also are lobbying aggressively to preserve — and even strengthen — the investor-state dispute settlement provisions in Nafta that empower businesses to challenge other countries for discrimination. Those provisions provide much-needed assurance to companies investing in Mexico today, allowing them to more effectively manage risk as they move more business into the region, Gerard said.
“In a capital intensive industry like natural gas, we need confidence, we need certainty,” Gerard, with the Petroleum Institute, said. “Anything that would add to the certainty side of the equation is helpful. ISDS is key to that, in knowing that we can put as much certainty as we can around judicial processes to protect investment.”
The provisions face opposition from conservationists, who have long said they embolden corporations to attack environmental and public health protections in unaccountable tribunals, with corporate lawyers — not judges — hearing the cases.
But the biggest risk may be the Trump administration itself; three energy industry lobbyists said they haven’t confirmed the U.S. position on the issue and are alarmed it’s on the trading block. The lobbyists asked for anonymity as they discussed private deliberations.
Oil companies are asking negotiators to make it easier for oilfield workers and equipment to move across the U.S. border with Mexico and Canada. The top oil and gas trade groups from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are jointly advocating a new “Nafta visa program to provide access for skilled energy professionals.”
The industry also wants to make it easier to prove products originate in Nafta countries, arguing the current regime is clunky and outdated — ill-suited for a commodity marketplace dominated by electronic trading and commingled products in pipelines.
The current rules “place a high burden on companies to gather and review supplier information — some of which is business confidential and cannot be shared — in order to certify their own goods and obtain duty-free access to markets,” the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said in comments filed with the U.S. government.
(Updates with API executive starting in the fifth paragraph.)
–With assistance from Catherine Traywick
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.
Lists: Rhode Island law firms
Total number of local lawyers: 516 FOOTNOTES 1. Previously listed as Pannone Lopes Devereaux & West LLC, which rebranded to Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC in February 2016. 2. Previously listed as McLaughlin & Quinn LLC, which rebranded to McLaughlinQuinn LLC in December 2016. Want to join? For more information about participating in PBN’s…
