Practice Blawg » MSBA Online

Email Security – A Cautionary Tale for Your Data in the Cloud

Bob Striker — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:41:55 +0000

I’m up at the SoloSmall conference today, but I wanted to put out a quick post about a story that’s hit the Internet over the past day or so. Mat Honan, a writer for Wired has posted an article about how he lost his entire digital life through a clever hack. A hacker decided that he wanted to get ahold of Honan’s 3-letter Twitter handle (@mat), so the hacker worked his way through Honan’s Amazon account, Apple iCloud account, and Gmail account in order to reset the Twitter password. Along the way, the hacker wreaked havoc on Honan’s digital life, causing Honan to be locked out of his email and losing all of the info in his iPhone, iPad and Mac. It’s an interesting read and I found it amazing at how resourceful the hacker was in using social engineering to circumvent what most people think of as secure systems.

Honan lost a lot of information – including his only copies of photos of his young daughter. Lawyers may also have valuable (and potentially irreplaceable) data that could be at risk if proper precautions aren’t taken. Of course you’ve heard a lot of the advice that’s always given in these situations – backup early and often. Keep multiple copies of valuable information in different places.

But here’s some new advice – particularly if you use Google applications such as Gmail in your practice. Try to find additional security for your accounts. Google has a great system that would have prevented Honan’s attacker from gaining access to his Google accounts called 2-factor identification. This system provides an additional layer of protection for your Google account, requiring both something you know (a password) and something you have (typically your cell phone) in order to access your account from a new computer.

Google’s system is pretty easy to use. (I can speak from experience since I set it up earlier this summer.) Whenever you use a new computer to access your account, Google will ask you for a special 6 digit code. You obtain the code in one of several ways – by receiving a text at your cell phone, through a voice telephone call, via a special app installed on a smartphone, or from a pre-printed list that you obtain ahead of time. If you don’t have the special code, you can’t access your account. If you access your account from a trusted computer, you can check a box that will let Google know that the computer is safe for the next 30 days. If you use a third-party application to access your account, you can get a special one-time password to use for that application. This system adds an additional hoop that you have to jump through every so often, but the minimal additional hassle is (in my opinion) worth the peace of mind it gives you.

We’ve written in the past about how information in the cloud can streamline your practice. But we’ve all got to be careful in how we protect the information for our own sake and the sake of our clients. We continue to recommend these tools (and I will continue to use Google applications in my own practice), but Honan’s tale reinforces how important it is to make sure we use all of the security tools available to us.

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Post tags: 2-factor authentication, Email, Google, hacking, Security

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Business Forms Now at practicelaw.org

Nancy Hupp — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 20:21:50 +0000

In our annual practicelaw survey sent last December, practicelaw users asked that we post business formation documents at practicelaw. You asked, we delivered. Eight new forms were posted last week, all relating to the formation of a limited liability company (LLC) and a professional LLC:

Articles of Organization for LLC (BUS-301)
Articles of Organization for Professional LLC (BUS-302)
Resolution of Organizer of LLC in Lieu of Meeting (BUS-305)
Organizational Resolutions of the Board of Governors of LLC Adopted In Lieu of Meeting (BUS-306)
Articles of Amendment of Articles of LLC (BUS-310)
Contribution Agreement (BUS-312)
Member Control Agreement – Single Member LLC (BUS-320)
Bylaws (Operating Agreement) of LLC (BUS-330)

These forms join the Annual Corporate Minute Checklist (JS-150) which was posted previously.

In the coming months we plan to augment the business law library with documents for a corporation, a model promissory note, and a security agreement. The drafting of these documents is already underway.

Let us know if you have suggestions for additional documents.

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Joint Physical Custody Bill on Governor’s Desk

Nancy Hupp — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:17:19 +0000

Last week we posted about a a bill, HR 322, that would raise Minnesota’s baseline custody presumption from 25% to 35%. Since our post, the Senate passed HF322. The MSBA Family Law Section opposes this legislation. The House had previously passed a version of the bill that set the presumption at 45.1% and only allowed the presumption to be overcome by proving, to a clear and convincing standard, the type of mistreatment that would trigger child protection proceedings. In the end, the House author asked her colleagues to concur with the Senate version; the House did so and the bill’s fate is now controlled by Gov. Dayton, who has not indicated whether he will sign it or veto it.

The Family Law Section Chair has written a letter asking Governor Dayton to veto the proposed legislation. To contact the Governor and express your views, please use this link.

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New Developments in Family Law

Andrea Hable — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:29:37 +0000

Lots happening to impact the practice of family law…

New Rules

Amended family law rules went into effect on May 1. You can read the amendments here.

Of note, the changes update terminology, streamline proceedings, and create three new forms. The changes came out of Divorce Camp 2009, with goals of making the rules reflect current practice in the District Courts and of making the rules more user-friendly for pro se litigants.

New Forms

The new rules require three new forms for all actions pending on the effective date of May 1 and to those filed thereafter.

Parenting/Financial Disclosure Statement
Certificate of Settlement Efforts
Initial Case Management Statement

These new forms are available at the Minnesota Judicial Branch website.

H.F. 322: Presumption of Joint Custody

This controversial bill is currently in the Senate. From the MSBA’s Capitol Connection email and blog:

JOINT PHYSICAL CUSTODY BILL ADVANCES IN SENATE

HF322, a bill that would alter Minnesota’s parenting time baseline presumption, was heard for a second time in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was re-referred after being altered in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The Judiciary Committee voted to send the bill, which is opposed by the Family Law Section, to the Senate Finance Committee without a recommendation. The version of the bill that passed the House last month would raise the current presumption of 25% physical custody to 45.1%, and would only allow the presumption to be overcome by proving, to a clear and convincing standard, the type of mistreatment that would trigger child protection proceedings. The presumption would therefore override the longstanding “best interests of the child” factors in most contested cases. The Senate Judiciary Committee eliminated most of the House language and set the presumption at 35%.

The Senate Finance Committee passed the bill today and sent it to the Senate floor. If the bill becomes law, a wave of custody modification requests is expected to strain the court system, but no plan has been offered to cover the increased costs, which, because of delayed effective dates, may not occur until the state’s next fiscal biennium.

Future updates will be posted here.

South Dakota recently rejected a similar bill. Consider contacting your local elected official to express any concerns about this bill.

practicelaw Family Law Forms and Advisory Group

I’m working on expanding the family law forms library on practicelaw. Of note:

A few months ago we added a Complaint to Establish Paternity (FAM-300), thanks to Central Minnesota Legal Services. Last week we updated it to reflect the new Rule 314 (Parentage Proceedings).
We are planning to add forms regarding custody outside of a dissolution, adoption (step and international), and third-party custody, plus a few other miscellaneous forms.
The J&D is regularly reviewed and updated. If you have a suggested change, please let me know. The form is here (FAM-680)

We need help with our new forms! We are in need of forms for international adoption and a financial affidavit for child support – if you have one that you would be willing to share, we will edit and format and give you credit on practicelaw.

We would also like to assemble a group of family law practitioners who we (I) can consult from time to time to ask questions as I update our forms. If you are interested in answering questions or reviewing language occasionally, please let me know. You can contact me by email.

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New practicelaw Resource on Starting a Law Firm

Andrea Hable — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:17:15 +0000

Approximately 85% of practicelaw users are in a solo or small firm. With that in mind, over the years we’ve added several practice management resources beyond our core substantive form libraries. Now we’re pleased to provide access to a new Minnesota Lawyers Mutual (MLM) online tool: ”Roadmap to Start and Run a Law Practice.” MLM and the MSBA have partnered to provide access to the Roadmap for all MSBA members even to those who are non MLM insureds.

The Roadmap covers many topics, from choosing a business entity, to establishing prudent office procedures, to developing a marketing plan. One of MLM’s strengths is ethics, thus the Roadmap also illustrates how and where to focus your efforts and how to identify malpractice risks. The process of going through the topics will enable you to think through many of the issues that need to be addressed to establish a safe and successful practice.

This is a valuable resource for lawyers who are starting a law firm or contemplating doing so. Additionally, the site is a great resource for new associates looking to establish prudent practices and start on a path to success. Click here to access the Roadmap. For more information, check out MLM’s Roadmap blog.

For Minnesota-specific startup information, check out practicelaw’s guide to Launching a Law Practice in Minnesota (PM-050). While there, check out Jump Starts, IOLTA accounting guides, and retainer agreements.

As always, we like to hear from you. Let us know what you think of the new resource, and if there’s anything we can add to practicelaw to help you work better.

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