Justia Connect Webinars How Law Firms Can Prevent, Spot, Navigate, and Survive Scams and Cybercrimes

CLE

Ashley Hallene Demeter Land Development

Jeffrey Allen Graves & Allen

How Law Firms Can Prevent, Spot, Navigate, and Survive Scams and Cybercrimes

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Overview AI Webinar Summary

How Law Firms Can Prevent, Spot, Navigate, and Survive Scams and Cybercrimes

Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting law firms, attorneys, legal staff, and their clients through sophisticated scams, fraud schemes, and data breaches designed to exploit trust, confidentiality, and professional obligations. From AI-generated phishing emails and business email compromise schemes to client impersonation, wire fraud, ransomware attacks, and social engineering tactics, legal professionals face unique risks that can jeopardize client information, firm operations, and ethical compliance. This program examines the evolving cyber threat landscape affecting the legal profession and provides practical guidance for identifying, preventing, and responding to these threats.

Participants will learn how cybercriminals leverage emerging technologies and psychological manipulation to target legal organizations, as well as attorneys' ethical obligations relating to technological competence, confidentiality, supervision, and the protection of client information. The program will cover common warning signs of scams and cyberattacks, effective prevention strategies, and practical steps for navigating incidents when they occur, including response, reporting, client communication, and recovery considerations. By the end of the program, attendees will be better equipped to mitigate cyber risks, fulfill their professional responsibilities, and protect their firms and clients from evolving cyber threats.

Duration of this webinar: 90 minutes

Originally broadcast: August 4, 2026 12:00 PM PT

Webinar Highlights

This webinar is divided into section summaries, which you can scan for key points and then dive into the sections that interest you the most.

00:00 AI and Cybercrime Threats

The speakers discuss the transformative impact of AI, particularly generative and agentic AI, on the world. They explain the difference between generative AI, which produces media, and agentic AI, which can act in the real world. Agentic AI's ability to act autonomously poses significant threats, as demonstrated by a bot escaping its sandbox and stealing information. AI has lowered barriers for scammers, enabling them to operate more efficiently and at scale, making scams more convincing and widespread.

12:29 Social Engineering and Scams

Social engineering is now mass-produced, with AI helping scammers write personalized messages that reach millions quickly. Deepfakes pose a significant threat, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake communications. Voice cloning and vishing attacks mimic familiar voices, creating urgent scenarios to deceive victims. AI facilitates identity theft by creating synthetic identities that blend real and fake data, bypassing traditional fraud detection. Credential theft through fake IT prompts can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive company information.

19:07 Business Email Compromise and Other Scams

Business email compromise (BEC) involves the unauthorized access of business email accounts, leading to significant financial losses. Scammers use AI to enhance phishing and spear phishing attacks, making them more convincing. Government impersonation scams exploit fear and authority, often using AI to clone voices for personalized threats. Utility scams use AI to create convincing messages about overdue payments, exploiting urgency during extreme weather conditions. Grandparent scams exploit emotional connections, using deepfake technology to create convincing scenarios of family members in distress. Ransomware and data extortion involve malware that locks systems or encrypts data, demanding payment for access or to prevent data leaks.

45:22 Preventive Cybersecurity Measures

Preventive measures include skepticism, strong authentication, regular updates, and training to build a culture of security. Layers of protection, including people, processes, and technology, are essential for effective cybersecurity. Regularly updating security measures and training staff are crucial to maintaining cybersecurity. Multi-factor authentication and password managers are useful tools to enhance security.

01:03:30 Incident Response and Recovery

Preserving evidence and notifying relevant parties quickly are high priorities when a cyber incident occurs. Restoring systems from clean sources and enabling multi-factor authentication are crucial for recovery. Communication with clients should be transparent, detailing the incident and steps taken to resolve it. Managing reputation involves owning the problem and demonstrating steps to prevent future incidents.

Please note this AI-generated summary provides a general overview of the webinar but may not capture all details, nuances, or the exact words of the speaker. For complete accuracy, please refer to the original webinar recording.

Speakers

Ashley Hallene Land Acquisition Specialist
Demeter Land Development

Ashley Hallene is a Land Acquisition Specialist with Demeter Land Development, a Michigan-based company focused on securing land for renewable energy projects, particularly community solar and battery storage developments. Read More ›

Jeffrey Allen Principal
Graves & Allen

Jeffrey Allen is a principal in the law firm of Graves & Allen, with a general civil practice that, since 1973, has emphasized negotiation, structuring, and documentation of real estate, loans, and other business transactions; receiverships; civil litigation; and bankruptcy. He also does extensive work as an arbitrator and a mediator. He has maintained a Martindale Hubbell Av Rating for over 30 years and has been a Northern California Super Lawyer for over 10 years. Read More ›

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits

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Alabama CLE

Status: Approved

Format: On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 General

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2026

Alaska CLE

Status: Approved

Format: Live (Virtual), On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 Ethics

Earn Credit Until: August 3, 2031

California CLE

Status: Approved

Format: Live (Virtual), On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 Technology in the Practice of Law

Earn Credit Until: June 30, 2028

Hawaii CLE

Status: Approved

Format: Live (Virtual), On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 General

Earn Credit Until: August 3, 2028

Illinois CLE

Status: Approved

Format: Live (Virtual), On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 General

Earn Credit Until: August 3, 2028

Nebraska CLE

Status: Approved

Format: On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 Professional Responsibility

Earn Credit Until: August 4, 2028

New Jersey CLE

Status: Approved

Format: Live (Virtual), On-Demand

Credits: 1.80 Ethics/Professionalism

Earn Credit Until: June 8, 2027

North Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Format: On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 Technology Training

Earn Credit Until: February 28, 2027

Ohio CLE

Status: Approved

Format: On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 Total: 1.00 General, 0.50 Attorney Professional Conduct

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2026

Pennsylvania CLE

Status: Approved

Format: Live (Virtual), On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 Substantive Law, Practice, and Procedure

Earn Credit Until: August 3, 2028

Vermont CLE

Status: Approved

Format: Live (Virtual), On-Demand

Credits: 1.50 General

Earn Credit Until: August 4, 2031

West Virginia CLE

Status: Approved

Format: On-Demand

Credits: 1.80 Legal Ethics, etc.

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2029

This presentation is approved for one and a half hours of General CLE credit in Alabama, one and a half hours of Ethics CLE credit in Alaska, one and a half hours of Technology in the Practice of Law CLE credit in California, one and a half hours of General CLE credit in Hawaii, one and a half hours of General CLE credit in Illinois, one and a half hours of Professional Responsibility CLE credit in Nebraska, one and a half hours of Technology Training CLE credit in North Carolina, one and a half hours of total CLE credit in Ohio, of which 0.50 credit hours will apply to Attorney Professional Conduct credit, one and a half hours of Substantive Law, Practice, and Procedure CLE credit in Pennsylvania, one and a half hours of General CLE credit in Vermont, and one hour of Legal Ethics, etc. CLE credit in West Virginia. This program has been approved by the Board on Continuing Legal Education of the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 1.80 hours of total CLE credit. Of these, 1.80 qualify as total hours of credit for Ethics/Professionalism. An application for accreditation of this activity has been submitted to the MCLE Committee of the State Bar of Texas and is pending.

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