About this Blog

 

Welcome to CyberInquirer. This is an educational, not-for-profit blog published by Richard J. Bortnick and Pamela D. Pengelley of Cozen O’Connor. This blog isn’t “work” for us – we have set it up in our own time, of our own initiative, in order to share our thoughts and ideas, and collaborate with others who have similar interests. That’s the fun of it!

Through this blog, we hope to share our legal perspectives and invite discussion on cyber law and insurance issues that individuals, businesses, insurance industry professionals and lawyers are facing today. We are always thrilled to receive comments and feedback. To foster a meaningful and constructive dialogue, we follow these guiding principles:

• We will provide unique, individual perspectives on what’s going on in the worlds of cyber law, privacy and insurance;
• We will post comments, except for spam and remarks that are off-topic, denigrating or offensive;
• We will reply to comments promptly, when appropriate;
• We will respect proprietary information and confidentiality; and
• We will be respectful when disagreeing with others’ opinions.

We invite you to visit the site regularly, read what’s on our minds, and join in the discussion. For more information about our blog, please see our Disclaimer.

About the Administrators

Richard J. Bortnick serves as Chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Professional Liability Practice Area within its Global Insurance Group and litigate cyber and technology, directors’ and officers’ liability, securities fraud, professional liability, insurance coverage, products liability, and commercial litigation cases. He also drafts professional liability insurance policies of varying types, including Cyber/Tech policies. 

Rick sits on the Executive Corporate Committee of the Franklin Institute science museum and is a member of the Board of Directors for the non-profit organization Need In Deed and the Mid-Atlantic Steering Committee of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society. Rick also serves as the Pennsylvania Chair for the Council on Litigation Management and currently acts as Editor, Intellectual Property Hot Topics, for the ABA Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee.

Rick is an internationally recognized lecturer and author with an extensive list of speeches and publications, some of which can viewed here.

Rick received his bachelor of science degree, summa cum laude, from Boston University in 1981. In 1985, he received his law degree, cum laude, from the Villanova University School of Law. That same year, Villanova’s men’s basketball team won the NCAA Championship. No wonder Rick is a huge Villanova fan! He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey and is admitted in the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey, and the Western District of Michigan, as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Third and Eleventh Circuits. Rick is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

---

 

 Pamela D. Pengelley practices commercial litigation including insurance coverage, subrogation and recovery actions.Called to the bar in 2006, Pamela is a member of the Advocates’ Society, the Canadian Bar Association, the Ontario Bar Association, the Toronto Lawyers Association, the National Association of Subrogation Professionals and the Canadian Defence Lawyers. Pamela received a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto in 2002, graduating with high distinction and a scholarship for academic excellence. She earned her LL.B and LL.M from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario.

Pamela has received various honors including the 2009 David Stockwood Memorial Prize for an advocacy-themed legal article, the 2008/2009 Marilyn L. Pilkington Award for outstanding academic performance in the LL.M. program, the Sonny Ladoo Literary Award in 2002, and the Canadian Law Library Review’s Feature Article of the Year Award in 2005. Since 2003, Pamela has been coaching Canadian law school teams to compete in the world’s largest advocacy competition, the Willem C. Vis Moot in International Commercial Arbitration, with her teams placing in the top tier.

Pamela is widely published on a broad range of legal topics. Recent academic articles include the following:

• Author, “Using the ‘B’ Word: An Examination of the Ontario Position on the Bifurcation of Trials”, Advocates Journal, (Publication forthcoming, 2010).
• Author, “Fessing Up To Facebook: Recent Trends in the Use of Social Network Websites for Civil Litigation,” Canadian Journal of Law & Technology, (Publication forthcoming, 2010).
• Author, “Indemnity and Infidelity: Advancement of Defence Costs in Actions ‘By…the Corporation,’” Canadian Business Law Journal, (Publication forthcoming, March 2010).
• Author, “Reality Cheque: Bank Liability for Fraudulent Bills of Exchange,” Without Prejudice, Vol. 73(2)45 (October 2008).
• Author, “Foresight in Hindsight: An Insight into Ahmed v. Stefaniu and De-Biasing Legal Evaluations of Reasonable Care,” Annual Review of Civil Litigation 2007, Archibald, Mr. Justice Todd L. and Echlin, Mr. Justice Randall (eds.) (Toronto: Carswell, 2007).
• Author, “Confidentiality and Disclosure in Mediation: When the Chicken Won’t Talk,” Advocates Quarterly, Vol. 33(4), 473-489 (December 2007).
• Author, “A Compelling Situation: Enforcing American Letters Rogatory in Ontario,” Canadian Bar Review, Vol. 85(2), 345-372 (January 2007).
• Author, “Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse: A Law Student’s Perspective on Acquiring Legal Information Literacy,” Canadian Law Library Review, Vol. 30(2), 80-84 (Summer 2005).

More of Pamela’s publications can be viewed at this LINK.