I nterview: Eve Cann, Managing

Cybersecurity

Internet-related concerns are on the rise in the wake of the pandemic that forced more people online

Eve Cann

Managing Shareholder – Baker Donelson

Which areas and services are driving demand in Broward County? The real estate, restaurant and hospitality spaces. We have also seen an uptick in cybersecurity and data privacy concerns. That has always been and continues to be a hot-button issue but now, with so much more business being conducted online and in a virtual environment, the concern for the security and safety of those transactions is at the highest point it has ever been.

How has your firm’s COVID-19 task force evolved since its inception? Our coronavirus task force has been meeting regularly from the outset. Being down here in South Florida, they have relied a lot on me as the managing shareholder of the office and my colleagues in our Orlando and Tallahassee offices to share localized updates. While initially the idea was to try and move the firm as a whole group toward the different reopening phases, the firm’s task force has been really receptive to making pivots and shifting gears to make sure that each office in each area of our footprint is treated individually, based on how the situation has unfolded in those areas. Fort Lauderdale, for instance, never even reached any sort of phased reopening until late September 2020 whereas other areas had moved to a phased reopening at 30% or so capacity.

What industry trends or regulations are you watching? A significant portion of the work that we do out of the Fort Lauderdale office is in the financial services sector. We’re keeping close track of everything that has been going on relating to moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions. We know that our bank and lender clients are also closely tracking CDC guidelines and federal regulations as well as state regulations on all that. I definitely think we will see a boom in financial services litigation, whether it be from foreclosures and evictions or other industry-related issues.

What are your top near-term priorities? For the Fort Lauderdale market, part of our strategic growth plan is to focus on recruiting to grow out aspects not only of litigation to build out expertise in our market, but also to build out other practice areas of our firm. We are looking to expand our breadth in Fort Lauderdale, specifically in the South Florida market, with an eye on the coming increase in financial services work. Along with that, we are looking at bankruptcy-related work and a continued climb in real estate activity, both on the transactional and the litigation side. We are also committed to pushing forward with our firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Compact, and ensuring that the makeup of our office is truly reflective of the South Florida community.