Steptoe Wins

On Friday, April 30, 2004, Steptoe attorneys ( Dave Roll (who argued the case), Rhonda Bolton, and Sheldon Hochberg) won a significant victory for the legal profession in the federal district court in the District of Columbia.  

Representing the American Bar Association, Steptoe sued the Federal Trade Commission  (FTC) to set aside its decision that lawyers are subject to the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and, thus, must send out annual privacy notices and take other steps to comply with that act.  

Judge Reggie Walton on May 12 issued a final declaratory judgment stating that the FTC had exceeded its statutory authority and engaged in arbitrary and capricious agency action.  The FTC has issued a letter providing that unless and until the judgment is reversed it will not investigate lawyers or try to enforce the GLBA against practicing lawyers.  

The government is expected to appeal.

For more information, click for a copy of the judge’s decision, the ABA Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Fact Sheet, and the letter from ABA President to ABA Members re: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.