Cooper Levenson and a former partner in the firm are off the hook in a suit accusing them of involvement in a client's cyberstalking of his ex-wife.

U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman dismissed claims against the firm and attorney Richard C. Klein  as time-barred under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Hillman relied on a recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Sewell v. Bernardin, which held that a CFAA claim starts to run when the plaintiff learned the integrity of her computer had been compromised. The relevant inquiry is not, as the plaintiff in the present case suggested, when the plaintiff learned of the nature and extent of the software installed on her computer and her ex-husband's involvement, Hillman said.

In finding the suit was time-barred, the court staves off any finding about Cooper Levenson's liability for the hacking allegations. The ruling provides guidance on the question of when claims accrue under the CFAA.