John Marshall Law School Dean's Email Account Hacked, Confidential Internal Report Taken

Daily Report, Suit: John Marshall Law Dean's Email Account Hacked for Confidential Report:

A lawsuit filed last week said a hacker targeted the email of Malcolm Morris, dean of Atlanta's John Marshall Law School and circulated the contents of a confidential report dealing with a "shouting match" between an associate and assistant dean that erupted last year.

Morris was unavailable for comment. The lawyers who filed the suit, Fisher & Phillips partners Burton Dodd and Michael Elkon, said they could not discuss the case.

The complaint accuses five "John Doe" defendants of violating federal and state laws regarding computer fraud and data theft by accessing the report, which was stored on Morris' email. The suit said the IP address linked to the August hack, which lasted 82 seconds, is associated with a local law firm, the Atlanta Law Group, "of which a former John Marshall professor is a principal."

The suit does not name the attorney. According to its website, Atlanta Law Group is affiliated with the Cantley Atlanta Law Group. That firm's CEO is Beckett Cantley, whose credentials include having served as [a tax professor] at John Marshall, although he is not listed among its current faculty.

The lawsuit also said former John Marshall human resources director Michelle Harris, who left the school in June, had Morris' email password and is employed by the Atlanta Law Group.