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NLJ this week: Cyberspecial—crypto thieves & Tulip opportunities

07 July 2023
Issue: 8032 / Categories: Legal News , Cyber , Technology , Cybercrime , Legal services
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Law firms are a prime target for cybercriminals, but the rapidly developing world of cryptocurrency is a prime opportunity for lawyers. This week’s NLJ serves up a double helping of articles on the sharp edge of tech development.

Alex Bransome, chief information security officer at IT services company Doherty Associates, sets out the five main cybersecurity threats to the UK legal sector, along with advice on how to construct a robust defence to each.

Bransome explains the threats and defences in accessible language. The necessity of vigilance against cybercrime cannot be overstated. Likewise, top level security and safeguards are vital to maintain client confidence.

Bransome points out, ‘as cyber threats continue to evolve, legal firms with robust defences will stand out from the competition’.

Meanwhile, a recent Court of Appeal case has suggested software developers could be held accountable in cryptocurrency hacking cases. Lauren Pardoe, partner in Rosling King’s dispute resolution group, looks at the questions raised by Tulip Trading (a Seychelles company) v Van Der Laan & Ors. The case explored whether the developers of cryptocurrency networks, working on behalf of bitcoin owners, are accountable as fiduciaries if networks are hacked.

The English and Welsh courts’ openness to considering how legal principles can be applied and even extended is a subject of huge interest for the crypto sector. As Pardoe writes, ‘cryptocurrency is a new and fast-developing area, in which there has to date been little in the way of judicial intervention, and in which there is little regulation’.

Read Alex Bransome's article here, and Lauren Pardoe's here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
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