Martin, Magnuson, McCarthy & Kenney, a Boston civil litigation law firm, appears in the Vermont Attorney General’s security breach notice listing. The listing reports one affected Vermont resident, and no total count has been published.
Martin, Magnuson, McCarthy & Kenney’s Data Breach Investigation
Martin, Magnuson, McCarthy & Kenney is a Boston, Massachusetts law firm whose website describes a practice covering civil litigation, including product liability, premises liability, medical malpractice and professional licensing matters. A law firm holds client files, correspondence and records collected in the course of cases, and it may also hold information about opposing parties, witnesses and employees, so a security incident at a firm can reach people who never hired it.
The organization’s name appears in the security breach notices published by the Office of the Vermont Attorney General. Vermont requires a business or institution that suffers a security breach involving residents’ personal information to notify the Attorney General’s office, and the office posts a public listing of those notices. The listing for Martin, Magnuson, McCarthy & Kenney reports that one Vermont resident was affected.
That Vermont figure is not a total. State attorney general filings usually state only the number of residents of that particular state, and an organization that sends notices in several states may report a different number to each one. No overall count of affected people has been published in the sources reviewed for this page, and this page does not estimate one.
The sources reviewed also do not describe how the incident happened, which systems were involved, or whether information was accessed, copied or only exposed. the firm has not published a detailed public statement that we could find, and the Vermont listing is a short summary rather than a narrative account. Where a fact is not publicly available, this page says so rather than guessing, and it will be reviewed if the organization or a regulator releases more detail.
Anyone who received a notice letter from the firm should read it closely. The letter is the best source for what happened in your case, what information of yours was involved, and what protective services, if any, are being offered. Keep the letter, the envelope and any enrollment instructions in a safe place, and note any deadline to sign up for monitoring.
Notification laws in most states require an organization to tell affected people about a breach without unreasonable delay, and many require the notice to describe the type of information involved. Because notices often go out well after an incident is discovered, receiving a letter does not necessarily mean the underlying event just happened. It is worth checking your accounts and credit reports promptly no matter how long ago the incident may have been.
When the type of information involved has not been disclosed, it is sensible to assume the risk could include any details you shared with the firm or that were part of a matter file, such as your name, mailing address, email address, phone number or financial details. Litigation files can also contain medical records, insurance information and government identifiers, which carry a longer lasting risk of identity theft because they cannot be easily replaced.
Law firms are attractive targets because their files combine personal, medical and financial information in one place, and they exchange documents with clients, insurers, experts and courts by email and shared portals. That is general industry context, not a statement about how this incident happened. Attorneys also owe their clients duties of confidentiality, which is one reason the safeguards a firm uses matter to the people whose information it holds.
A report to a state regulator is a sign that the organization concluded the event met the legal definition of a reportable breach. It is not, by itself, a finding about fault or about whether the safeguards in place were adequate. Those questions remain open on the public record, and they are the kind of questions that attorneys can ask on behalf of people who were harmed.
When Did This Breach Occur?
The sources reviewed do not state when the incident occurred or when it was discovered. The organization’s notice appears in the Vermont Attorney General’s listing. If you received a letter, check the dates it gives, since those are the most reliable record of the timeline for your own information.
What Information Was Breached?
The types of information involved have not been publicly disclosed in the sources reviewed for this page. The notice letter you receive should state which of your details were involved. Until then, it is prudent to treat any information you provided to the firm as potentially at risk.
What You Can Do
If you received a notice from the firm, or believe you may be affected, consider these steps:
- Read the notice carefully, and follow any instructions for enrolling in free credit monitoring or identity protection if one is offered.
- Place a free fraud alert on your credit file, or consider a credit freeze, with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
- Review your bank and card statements for charges you do not recognize, and check your credit reports for free at annualcreditreport.com.
- Be cautious of emails, texts or calls that ask for personal details or refer to your dealings with the organization. Report suspected identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov and to your state Attorney General.
File a Data Breach Lawsuit Against Martin, Magnuson, McCarthy & Kenney
If you received a notice about this incident, or believe your personal information was exposed, you may have legal options. Organizations are expected to safeguard the personal information entrusted to them, and a class action can help hold them accountable when they fail to do so.
Contact us at Class Action U, where we’ll connect you with a lawyer skilled in class action lawsuits. If you’ve been contacted about this breach, received notice, or discovered you were impacted, fill out our quick, easy, and secure form to sign up. There is no cost to reach out to our legal partner and no obligation after speaking with someone from our team.
