News & Insight

Category: Firm News

Universities Targeted by Chinese Hackers for Military Technology

On Tuesday, March 4, The Wall Street Journal reported that more than two dozen universities in the U.S., Canada and Southeast Asia had been targeted by Chinese hackers.  In its report, The Wall Street Journal cited research from iDefense, a cybersecurity intelligence unit of Accenture Security, indicating that the University of […]

  Mar 13, 2019  |  By    |   On Data Privacy and Protection

New FERPA Guidance on Permitted Disclosures Necessary to Protect Health or Safety

By Sheila Sokolowski and Linh Nguyen The U.S. Department of Education  through the Privacy Technical Assistance Center (“PTAC”)—an online resource on data privacy, confidentiality, and security practices for education stakeholders—recently issued a set of frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) on the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) […]

  Mar 13, 2019  |  By    |   On Education

President Trump Proposes Fiscal Year 2020 Budget

On Monday afternoon, the Trump Administration released its proposal for the federal budget. Specific to the U.S. Department of Education, the fiscal 2020 budget decreases funding by about $8.5 billion while maintaining level funding for the Office for Civil Rights. Details of the full budget request are available here. In […]

  Mar 13, 2019  |  By    |   On Education

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place – California’s “Fair Pay to Play” Act

The amateurism rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) – the governing body of intercollegiate athletics – prohibit student-athletes from receiving payments for endorsements or otherwise profiting from the use of their name, image or likeness (“NIL”).  Indeed, if an NCAA Division I or II athlete is paid for […]

  Feb 18, 2019  |  By    |   On Education

Illinois Privacy Law Does Not Require Actual Harm

On January 25, 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a person whose rights under the Biometric Information and Privacy Act (“BIPA”) (740 ILCS 14/1) are violated is “aggrieved” and is not required to show that the violation caused actual harm in order to bring an action seeking damages and/or […]

  Feb 18, 2019  |  By    |   On Data Privacy and Protection

SUPREME COURT SCHEDULED TO REEVALUATE HOW AGENCIES INTERPRET THEIR OWN REGULATIONS WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR TITLE IX (KISOR V. WILKIE)

The Supreme Court’s decision to grant review in Kisor v. Wilkie may have major implications for the Department of Education’s implementation and enforcement of its civil rights regulations. Kisor v. Wilkie seeks to challenge the Court’s long-standing precedent of granting deference to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of their own regulations, commonly […]

  Feb 7, 2019  |  By    |   On Education

Let’s Get into the Regs! Key Highlights from the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Accreditation and Innovation, Session 1, Day 2

  While much of the D.C.-area got to work clearing snowfall from a weekend winter storm, Committee Members on the U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) Federal Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Accreditation and Innovation (the “Committee”) got to work reviewing and, oftentimes challenging, proposals and recommendations to the Department’s draft regulatory […]

  Jan 25, 2019  |  By    |   On Education

Slippery Slope: The Subcommittee on Distance Learning and Educational Innovation and Fear of the “Race to the Bottom” in Accreditation Standards

The Department of Education (“Department”) conducted its first negotiated rulemaking session on January 14-18, 2019. The Committee on Accreditation and Innovation (“Main Committee”) met on January 14th and 15th. The Subcommittee on Distance Learning and Educational Innovation (“Subcommittee”) met on January 16th and 17th with the goal of reviewing certain […]

  Jan 25, 2019  |  By    |   On Education

Charter Schools in Puerto Rico

On March 30th, 2018, the Government of Puerto Rico enacted Law Num. 85-2018, known as the Puerto Rico Education Reform Law (the “Law”).  The Law is comprehensive in nature, and designed to loosen many of the bureaucratic ills that have stymied the island’s public education system for many years.  It […]

  Jan 23, 2019  |  By    |   On Education

J. Michael Tecson Elected Shareholder

J. Michael Tecson was elected a shareholder of HMBR effective January 1st. Mr. Tecson has been with HMBR since 2004 and had been a partner of the firm since 2010. He has more than 18 years of experience and has developed a diverse practice actively representing clients in both transactional […]

  Jan 10, 2019  |  By    |   On Firm News