Seyfarth Launches Cross-Disciplinary Global Privacy & Security Team

CHICAGO (September 10, 2015) -- Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced today the formal launch of its Global Privacy & Security (GPS) Team, a cross-disciplinary collaboration of the firm’s many lawyers who focus on helping clients manage the breadth and depth of enterprise risk from regulatory compliance to cyber security. The formalized team will work across legal disciplines and corporate industries to guide clients through the increasingly complex maze of laws, regulations and enforcement actions related to data privacy and security.

Drawn from across the firm, Seyfarth’s cross-departmental GPS Team includes more than 35 lawyers who spend a majority of their practice advising clients on privacy-related issues. Team members have been engaged to respond to security incidents, develop responsive programs to privacy and security threats, advise on new business and technology models, and negotiate with parties throughout the supply chain.

“Seyfarth has a deep bench of lawyers in this space who know firsthand the critical nature of privacy matters, as well as the related risks and opportunities for companies of all sizes and shapes,” said Kate Perrelli, who led the formation of the team and chairs Seyfarth’s Litigation Department. “Providing privacy and data security advice is not new for Seyfarth. We have been handling such issues for well over a decade, and we have a deep bench across various legal practices within the firm. What is new, however, is formalizing the collaboration of our lawyers in this area -- many of whom spend a significant amount of their practice exclusively in privacy and security law -- to ensure that we are providing our clients with cross-functional solutions for their respective businesses.”

Through the coordinated services of its interdisciplinary GPS Team, Seyfarth applies the focused industry experience of attorneys in all its departments, while keeping an eye on the broader effects of privacy regulation and compliance on day-to-day operations and long-term strategies. This unique blend of depth and breadth enables Seyfarth to provide legal solutions and results that support clients’ overall objectives.

Members of the GPS Team have worked on cross-border privacy and security issues in more than 150 countries. “For many years Seyfarth has worked on international privacy and data protection strategic and compliance matters around the world,” explained Darren Gardner, chair of Seyfarth’s International Department. “Through our Global Privacy and Security team, we continue to be very well positioned to assist our clients to develop and implement unified global strategies to address data privacy and security law compliance issues across their global operations.”

Seyfarth’s GPS Team handles matters across the full spectrum of privacy work, including:

Compliance with all U.S. federal and state privacy and information management requirements, and compliance with all international data protection laws
Data confidentiality and security issues that arise in vendor and technology transactions
Prevention and management of cyber events, from security planning and prevention of security breaches, to incident response and handling of litigation arising from such events
Defense of clients in breach-related actions brought by regulators or civil plaintiffs, and litigating issues arising from computer and e-mail hacking
Counseling on Big Data’s incumbent risks and challenges to privacy, trade secrets, and other intellectual property, including potential landmines regarding predictive capacity, accuracy, and ethics.

“Responsible information management is quickly becoming one of the greatest challenges that companies face today,” said John Tomaszewski, co-lead of Seyfarth’s GPS Team and former general counsel of TRUSTe. “We are on the cutting-edge and we bring the type of experience that clients need in this environment. Our team has a track record of successfully designing and deploying solutions that span a number of legal disciplines to carefully manage privacy and security issues.”

To learn more about Seyfarth’s GPS Team visit: www.seyfarth.com/global-privacy-security.

About Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Seyfarth Shaw has more than 850 attorneys and provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation, corporate and real estate. With offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney and Washington, D.C., Seyfarth’s clients include over 300 of the Fortune 500 companies and reflect virtually every industry and segment of the economy. A recognized leader in delivering value and innovation for legal services, Seyfarth’s acclaimed SeyfarthLean client service model has earned numerous accolades from a variety of highly respected third parties, including industry associations, consulting firms and media. For more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.

Contacts:

Brian Kiefer, Director of Public Relations

(312) 460-6401, bkiefer@seyfarth.com

Martin Grego, Public Relations Manager

(312) 460-6659, mgrego@seyfarth.com