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Ex-Partner Remotely Accesed His Old Firm's Files

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on February 15, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Attorneys at Pennsylvania law firm Elliott Greenleaf & Siedzikowski are not pleased. Turns out, one of their own tried to pull a fast one.

Ex-partner William Balaban is accused of installing software on his firm computer before he left the firm in January. Balaban ended up joining a new law firm.

But not before he remotely accessed his old files.

Now Elliott Greenleaf & Siedzikowski have filed suit. They filed a motion to stop the computer hacking last week.

Balaban allegedly installed Dropbox on his office computer. He then used the software to steal 78,000 files. The files were pulled onto a cloud server. Balaban then deleted 5% of backup tapes, reports the ABA Journal.

All of this was to help Balaban's new firm get more clients, according to the suit.

Are the facts alleged true? Balaban and his new firm deny the allegations.

Even if the suit is not successful, it does beg the question: how far would you go to get clients? Would you also resort to some sort of corporate espionage? Or, would you try to drum up business the old fashioned way?

Whatever you think of Balaban's alleged hacking, one thing is for sure. Maybe it's simply a sign of the economic times. There does seem to be a glut of lawyers and not enough legal work to go around. While the economy is recovering and hiring is finally increasing, businesses can't be expected to rebound instantly.

Maybe that's why some attorneys may resort to more underhanded tactics.

There is no word yet on when Elliott Greenleaf & Siedzikowski's lawsuit will move forward.

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