Keep Up with Current Employment Law Issues

Determining whether an internal investigation should be led by the organization’s Human Resources personnel, in-house counsel, regular outside counsel, or non-regular outside counsel will generally hinge on the nature of the allegations and the target(s) of the allegations. Although HR personnel often conduct routine internal investigations, having them do so where litigation is reasonably anticipated in connection with the facts underlying the investigation is likely to result in the results of the investigation not being protected by the attorney-client privilege.  For that reason, and because of the expertise and experience that suitable counsel bring to an investigation, counsel should often be used to conduct an internal investigation.

Can an employee be found criminally or civilly liable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA”) for accessing digital information to which she or he had authorization when done for an improper purpose? The answer prior to the June 2021 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Van Buren v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1648 (2021), was unclear and varied between jurisdictions.

The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) turned five years old on May 11, 2021.  As a follow-up to our last article concerning misappropriation of trade secrets litigation, we are devoting this article to a review of the litigations which have arisen out of this relatively new statute.