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07 July 2023
Issue: 8032 / Categories: Legal News , Cyber , Technology , Cybercrime , Legal services
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NLJ this week: Cyberspecial—crypto thieves & Tulip opportunities

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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—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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