Winston & Strawn Launches New Global Privacy & Data Security Practice
CHICAGO – The global law firm of Winston & Strawn LLP today announced the formation of a new, fully integrated Global Privacy & Data Security practice. Sheryl Falk, Steve Grimes, and Alessandra Swanson will lead a cross-disciplinary and international team with a deep bench of experience in privacy and data security issues that span employment, health care, trade secrets, breach counseling, litigation, consumer, emerging technologies, private equity and mergers and acquisitions.
The new practice is the culmination of Winston’s Global Privacy & Data Security Task Force, formed in 2017, which effectively established a suite of capabilities to serve clients across a wide range of regions and industries. Now, the team of more than 75 attorneys in 13 offices across the world can work together seamlessly to address the full spectrum of clients’ privacy and data security challenges, including:
• Privacy counseling and compliance program building
• Regulated Personal Information
• Privacy and data security litigation
• Internal forensic investigations and cybersecurity incident response
• Theft of confidential information and trade secrets
• Breach notification, response and regulatory defense
• Technology outsourcing
• Private equity and mergers and acquisitions
• Health care privacy and security
• Financial privacy
• Employee privacy
• Emerging technology
• E-commerce and consumer interaction
• Marketing and online advertising
• International trade, export controls, and sanctions
Falk draws on her deep expertise in privacy, data security, and forensic technology, as well as her strong litigation background as a former federal prosecutor, to handle complicated privacy and data protection issues. She concentrates her practice on privacy and data security counseling and diligence, providing strategic advice to mitigate privacy and data security risk in emerging technology, investigating trade secret theft, leading data security incident response, and handling privacy and trade secret litigation.
Grimes is a former federal prosecutor, an experienced trial lawyer, and a former chief compliance officer and senior litigation counsel for a global, publicly traded Fortune 500 company whose practice focuses on compliance counseling, sensitive internal investigations, and complex litigation. He works with companies across many industries to investigate highly sensitive and urgent issues related to trade secret theft, technology and security breaches, employee misconduct, conflicts of interest, financial fraud, and potential violations of anti-bribery and other laws.
Swanson is a former federal privacy regulator and leverages her unique experience to help clients understand their regulatory and compliance obligations regarding the use, disclosure, and protection of personal information. She focuses her practice in the areas of Regulated Personal Information, privacy and data security counseling, security breach response and regulatory defense, marketing and data ownership issues, corporate advisory services and outsourcing, and large-scale commercial contracting.
