An aggressive malware infection has created major problems for a major law firm.
Seyfarth Shaw, a global legal firm with Australian offices, said it is the victim of an “aggressive malware” attack that it believes to be ransomware.
The firm, which is headquartered in the US but has a regional presence including in Sydney and Melbourne, said in a statement that it was attacked on October 10 US time.
“Seyfarth was the victim of a sophisticated and aggressive malware attack,” it said in an advisory.
“At this time, our email system remains down. Our phone system is still functioning.”
The firm said that it was but one of an undisclosed number of companies hit “simultaneously” by the same attackers.
“We understand that a number of other entities were simultaneously hit with this same attack,” it said.
“Our monitoring systems detected the unauthorised activity, and our IT team acted quickly to prevent its spread and protect our systems.
“We have found no evidence that any of our client or firm data were accessed or removed.
“However, many of our systems were encrypted, and we have shut them down as a precautionary measure.”
The firm said it is “coordinating with the FBI” and “working around the clock to bring our systems back online as quickly and safely as possible.”
- 2026 BigLaw Salary Scale: When Is the Next Raise Dropping? r/biglaw Weighs In
It’s April 2026, and the usual spring fever has hit r/biglaw, except this year the chatter isn’t about bonus season (that already came and went). It’s all about the next salary scale. Log in to see the 2026 scale . . . - Simpson Thacher Announces Plans to Open Singapore Office
- Macfarlanes Hits £3.1m PEP – Proof That Staying Small Can Beat The Magic Circle At Its Own Game
he 150-year-old City firm just posted profitability numbers that will make some London big law partners wince, but the strategy is deceptively simple. While the Magic Circle firms continue their global expansion arms race, adding offices in places most partners couldn’t find on a map, Macfarlanes has been quietly doing something almost heretical in modern BigLaw: staying focused, staying small, and getting spectacularly rich in the process. Log in to read more . . - Record £534m PE Cash Floods UK Law Firms With AI As the Rocket Fuel
If you’re a lawyer watching your firm’s P&L or thinking about the next tech upgrade, here’s the headline you can’t ignore: private equity poured a record £534 million into UK law firms in 2024, which is a chunky 42% jump from £377m the year before. Over the past five years that’s more than £1.2 billion of fresh capital heading into the sector. - The New Chapter for Mallesons And Why the Australian Firm Chose Independence After 14 Years with KWM
- No Timesheets, Pure Trial Focus – How This Litigation Boutique Rewrote the BigLaw Rulebook in Just 10 Years
What happens when elite trial lawyers walk away from BigLaw’s billable-hour machine and build a firm laser-focused on taking cases all the way to verdict? You get Wilkinson Stekloff—a lean, highly effective trial boutique that has quietly become one of the most respected names in high-stakes litigation, without ever sending a single traditional timesheet to a client. Log in to read more . .
