Breach Report: oldest NYC law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft breach affects 93,000+, affected firm “for weeks,” results in class-action lawsuit

(image source: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM, 2020)

One-sentence summary:

The oldest NYC law firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, was breached in November, resulting in notable operational disruption, a class-action lawsuit, and adverse effects, potentially, for over 93,000+ individuals, including clients.

Who was involved?

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, 93,211 victims, and a threat actor.

What was the timeline?

November 15, 2022: Breach occurred

November 16, 2022: Cadwalader discovers the breach

November 19, 2022: Cadwalader firm email system returns online (Roe, 2023)

March 30, 2023: Cadwalader begins consumer notification (per Maine OAG report)

April 12, 2023: Class-action lawsuit is filed in NY federal district court against the firm

What occurred?

In November 2022, an unknown actor breached the information systems of the famous NYC-based law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and was quickly discovered by Cadwalader management (Brehmer, 2023). Operational disruption was apparent for the weeks following the breach (Roe, 2023). The breached information has only been specified as names and social security numbers (Brehmer, 2023). As a temporary recovery measure, employees and attorneys were requested to use their personal devices in lieu of their work devices to access potentially privileged and work-related documents (Roe, 2023). The incident has resulted in a class action lawsuit against the firm (Perotti v. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, 2023).

Estimated costs:

Associated incident response costs, breach notification costs, hired “renowned external cybersecurity experts and legal counsel,” 2 years of Kroll identity monitoring, litigation defense costs, operational issues/costs (e.g., due to offline document system) (Roe, 2023)

Involved laws:

Federal: Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 45 (Perotti v. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP, Docket No. 1:23-cv-03063 (S.D.N.Y. Apr 12, 2023), Court Docket)

State: Maine: 10 M.R.S.A. § 1346

Root cause:

TBA or N/A (see disclaimer)

Lessons learned:

TBA or N/A (see disclaimer)

Sources:

Brehmer, H. (2023). Data Breach Notifications. In Privacy, Identity Theft and Data Security Breaches. Office of the Maine Attorney General. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://apps.web.maine.gov/online/aeviewer/ME/40/30f7a1de-50d4-4484-8eaa-1b01e624f123.shtml

Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM. (2020, February). Cadwalader-Office-Sign-Article-202002111512.jpg. law.com. https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/sites/389/2020/02/Cadwalader-Office-Sign-Article-202002111512.jpg

Perotti v. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP, Docket No. 1:23-cv-03063 (S.D.N.Y. Apr 12, 2023). https://www.bloomberglaw.com/ms/public/desktop/document/PerottivCadwaladerWickershamTaftLLPDocketNo123cv03063SDNYApr12202

Roe, D. (2023, January 9). November Cyberattack Hobbled Cadwalader for Weeks, Internal Emails Show | The American Lawyer. The American Lawyer. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2023/01/05/november-cyberattack-hobbled-cadwalader-for-weeks-internal-emails-show/

About Post Author

Kyler Kent CISSP

Kyler Kent is a Senior Cybersecurity Analyst on CrowdStrike’s Falcon Complete MDR team, where he helps large enterprises detect, investigate, and contain real intrusions across cloud and hybrid environments. His work spans threat hunting, incident response, and security automation—turning noisy telemetry into clear, repeatable actions that reduce risk quickly. Previously, Kyler served as a Threat Hunting and Intelligence Specialist supporting a critical infrastructure provider in Dallas, and led security automation and operational coordination at CyberConvoy. He holds a Master’s in Cybersecurity Risk Management from Georgetown University and maintains certifications including CISSP, AWS Solutions Architect – Professional, AWS Security – Specialty, and multiple CrowdStrike credentials. He writes to close the gap between “what the textbook says” and what analysts actually do on shift with his published book: "SOC Analyst Career Guide" (ISBN-13: 9781835467466). https://linktr.ee/kentprotect.com Corrections: [email protected]

http://kylerkent.com