Cybersecurity Regulations for the Energy Industry
The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack shone a spotlight on the importance and potential vulnerabilities of U.S. critical energy infrastructure. Join our panel of energy industry and cybersecurity thought leaders for a discussion of the threats targeting the industry today, the state of the law when it comes to safeguarding against cyberattacks, and what to expect from Congress and the Administration as calls for increased regulation intensify.
Sidley Welcomes Former-CFPB Enforcement Director Tom Ward
Sidley is pleased to announce that Thomas Ward, who previously served as Enforcement Director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has joined the firm as a partner in the Banking and Financial Services Group in Washington, D.C. As the CFPB’s chief law enforcement officer, Tom was responsible for enforcing more than 20 enumerated consumer financial statutes and the Consumer Financial Protection Act. He established and supervised the strategy in hundreds of active investigations and cases prosecuted by the CFPB’s Office of Enforcement and managed the agency’s 165 enforcement trial lawyers, investigators, and staff. Under his leadership, in 2020, the CFPB brought the second highest number of enforcement actions since its inception, secured its fourth highest amount of redress, prosecuted its largest and most complex litigation docket, and recommitted to enforcing the Fair Lending laws, including filing the first contested Fair Lending action in the CFPB’s history.
Chambers 2021 Global Practice Guides for Data Protection & Privacy and Cybersecurity Available
The updated 2021 Chambers Global Practice Guides for Data Protection & Privacy and Cybersecurity, edited by Alan Charles Raul, are available now, covering important developments across the globe and offer insightful legal commentary for businesses. Read the introductions to each Guide here and here.
Sidley Ranked in Chambers Global 2021
We are proud to announce that Sidley received 83 practice area rankings and 119 lawyer rankings in the 2021 edition of Chambers Global. Of these, 16 practice area rankings and 14 lawyer rankings were in Band 1.
Sidley’s Privacy and Cybersecurity practice received two honors. Partner Alan Raul is ranked Band 1 for Privacy & Data Security (USA). The practice is also newly ranked in the Data Protection category.
The annual Chambers Global guide provides analyses of legal practitioners around the world based on in-depth interviews with clients and in-house counsel.
Lawfare Publishes Article on “Why Schrems II Might Not Be a Problem for EU-U.S. Data Transfers”
Lawfare recently published “Why Schrems II Might Not Be a Problem for EU-U.S. Data Transfers*,” written by Sidley Partner Alan Charles Raul. This article was adapted from a longer article on our Data Matters blog, “Schrems II Concerns Regarding U.S. National Security Surveillance Do Not Apply to Most Companies Transferring Personal Data to the U.S. Under Standard Contractual Clauses.”
(*Note that this article was published by the Lawfare Institute in cooperation with Brookings.)
Congratulations to Sidley’s Newly-Elected Partners
Congratulations to our 28 colleagues, including Clayton Northouse, for their election to the Sidley Austin partnership. Clay represents companies that have suffered cybersecurity attacks and consumer privacy incidents and has developed multidimensional defenses to litigation, congressional inquiries, and regulatory investigations. He has experience in the use of cybersecurity forensics and the investigation of sophisticated international incidents. In addition to counseling companies regarding their compliance with the full range of data protection laws, Clay also helps companies assess the legal implications of deploying novel communication and digital technologies. Clay has been a driving force in guiding Sidley’s privacy and cybersecurity diligence for significant M&A and private equity transactions.
The Seventh Edition of The Privacy, Data Protection and Cybersecurity Law Review is Now Available
The seventh edition of The Privacy, Data Protection and Cybersecurity Law Review takes a look at the evolving global privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity landscape in a time of unique workplace challenges, new dimensions to cybercrime, significant new data protection regimes coming into effect around the world, and increased scrutiny from regulators, Boards of Directors and customers. Several lawyers from Sidley’s global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice have contributed to this publication. See the chapters below for a closer look at this developing area of law.
Five Sidley Practices Recognized as Law360 “Practice Groups of the Year”
Sidley was named to Law360’s 2020 “Practice Groups of the Year” in five categories:
- Compliance
- Fintech
- International Arbitration
- International Trade
- Structured Finance
With an eye toward landmark matters and general excellence, the annual awards honor the law firms behind the litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal profession. Law360 commended Sidley for being only one of five firms to have five winning practices.
Sidley Receives Four Awards at the 2020 Who’s Who Legal Awards
In recognition of the exceptional caliber of the firm’s work, Who’s Who Legal honored Sidley with two “Firm of the Year” awards and two “Country Firm of the Year” awards at its 2020 Who’s Who Legal Awards. The annual ceremony identifies the firms that stand apart from others in practice areas of law.
Mobile Technologies and COVID-19: A Primer on Privacy Considerations and Fighting the Virus with Cell Phones
Sidley associate Michael R. Roberts is the author of “Mobile Technologies and COVID-19: A Primer on Fighting the Virus with Cell Phones,” an article published in the Fall 2020 issue of Infrastructure, a quarterly publication of the American Bar Association’s Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section. The article was also featured on the American Bar Association’s website homepage.
The article provides a primer on key privacy considerations and issues in order to assist businesses considering whether to develop or use mobile technologies to fight COVID-19. It first outlines the main ways governments and businesses might use mobile technologies to fight the virus and the potential applicability of current laws to these uses. The article then details how those laws might change as legislatures and regulators address the novel privacy and civil liberties issues raised by COVID-19. Finally, the article offers a checklist to capture important data privacy and security legal considerations relevant to the use of mobile technologies to combat COVID-19.