Market-Leading Cybersecurity and National Security Lawyers David Lashway and John Woods Join Sidley Austin LLP in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. – Sidley Austin LLP announced today that David Lashway and John Woods have joined as partners in the firm’s cybersecurity and privacy practice in Washington, D.C. Mr. Lashway and Mr. Woods join Sidley from Baker McKenzie where they started and led the global cybersecurity practice group for over 10 years.
“David and John’s industry leading knowledge and global experience provide a rare viewpoint of the current geopolitical risks in the world today and will have an immediate and positive impact on our broad range of client representations,” said Stephen Cohen, global practice leader of the Regulatory and Enforcement group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. “By adding these two global market leaders, we are expanding our expertise to better support our clients with the ever growing risks associated with national security and cybersecurity matters across our multi-disciplinary practices.”
“Adding significant bench strength to our Chambers-ranked privacy and cybersecurity practice is a win for Sidley and our clients,” said Yvette Ostolaza, Sidley’s Management Committee Chair. “David and John have successfully led a global cybersecurity practice for over a decade and handled a wide range of issues that companies and public sector institutions face, including national security, geopolitical, criminal, and white-collar matters.”
David Lashway is globally acknowledged as one of the leading lawyers for crisis management, national security, cybersecurity, misinformation, trade secret theft, and related investigation and disputes matters. He has advised private and public organizations on significant and material cybersecurity incidents across almost every critical infrastructure sector. He has significant experience in addressing election security and misinformation related issues, and was deeply involved in the investigations into the 2016 and 2020 elections targeting various U.S. political parties. He has served as the lead lawyer advising on the legal response on operationally impactful malware for a number of Fortune 500 entities, and led the incident response, associated investigations and litigations for several companies impacted by the Notpetya malware incident and recent large-scale ransomware incidents.
“Governments, boards, and C-suites around the world have prioritized cybersecurity as the number one risk issue they are facing today,” said Mr. Lashway, speaking on behalf of himself and Mr. Woods. “We are honored to bring our combined decades of global experience to a firm that has the quality and depth across a wide range of complex practice areas that will allow us to offer clients the A-list capabilities and representation they need.”
Mr. Lashway has led due diligence on some of the largest recent corporate transactions, and regularly advises companies through complex CFIUS issues. He has also served as lead counsel on matters for organizations facing difficult regulatory, congressional, and public policy, national security, and cybersecurity issues across a range of industry sectors and subjects.
John Woods is a globally acknowledged leader in handling cybersecurity matters, data governance, trade secret theft, and related investigation and disputes matters. He is one of the few lawyers who has led multiple global responses to data integrity attacks involving the financial services industry. He also served as the lead lawyer advising a Fortune 500 entity on the legal response on the Notpetya malware incident in 2017, and advised a number of other organizations on the response to ransomware and data extortion claims. As a counselor, based on his experience in handling data integrity and operationally impactful malware incidents, he is sought out for his advice in the areas of cyber resilience and data governance.
Mr. Woods has been recognized in a number of surveys of the best attorneys for cybersecurity globally, and in particular acknowledged for his ability to translate complex technical issues into a legal framework.
With more than 2,000 lawyers in 20 offices around the globe, Sidley is a premier legal adviser for clients across the spectrum of industries. Follow Sidley on Twitter @SidleyLaw.