Practical Law’s Mel Gates and Zach Ratzman on Thursday, January 12, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern will present a free, 75-minute webinar that will explain recent data breach trends affecting state and local governments and provide tips on how to prepare for and help prevent a data breach or other cyber event . . . before it happens.

Topics will include:

• Why state and local governments should be thinking about data breaches and other cyber events.
• Federal and state laws concerning personal information, data security, and breach notification.
• What reasonable security measures are and how they can impact a government entity’s regulatory and litigation exposure.
• The basics on today’s cyber threats with recent case studies of data breaches that have affected state and local governments.
• Recommendations on how government lawyers can play a key role in protecting their organizations.

A short Q&A will follow.

Presenters:

Mel Gates, Senior Legal Editor, Privacy & Data Security, Practical Law
Melodi (Mel) Gates, CIPP/US joined Practical Law from Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, where she was a senior associate focusing on cybersecurity and privacy issues, including in the health information technology field. Prior to practicing law, Mel worked for over twenty years in the telecommunications industry, last serving as chief information security officer (CISO) for a large network provider. She is also an appointed member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee (DPIAC).

Zach Ratzman, Director of Public Sector, Practical Law
Zach Ratzman joined Practical Law from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the General Counsel in Washington, DC, where he advised senior DHS leadership on privacy, information sharing, and congressional oversight matters. Before that, Zach worked for nearly a decade at several major New York City law firms, where his practice focused on securities and accounting fraud litigation. Before entering private practice, he clerked for the late Honorable Harold Baer, Jr. in the Southern District of New York. Zach is the Director of Practical Law’s Public Sector Service.

Register for the webinar.

Compliancy Group will present a complimentary webinar designed to give individuals and entities operating in the health care sector the skills they need to be prepared to identify, respond and manage data breaches in a timely, efficient and compliant manner.

The event will be Wednesday, June 15, beginning at 2 p.m.

“Data breaches are becoming more and more common among health care providers, payers and their vendors,” the company says on its website. “Some estimates indicate that one-third of all Americans had their health information breached in 2015 alone, and data breach costs are approaching $250 per affected individual – not including the million dollar penalties with government regulators have recently issued.

This webinar will give listeners the tools they need to develop a data breach plan to protect their organization.

Register for the webinar.