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The Legal 500 2021 Recognizes Morrison & Foerster’s Outstanding Privacy and Data Security Practitioners

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Congratulations to the outstanding members of MoFo’s Privacy + Data Security team who were recently recognized by The Legal 500 2021. We could not be more proud of the work that all of our attorneys do serving our clients every day. And we could not be more appreciative of our clients and their continued trust in what we do.

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Congratulations to the outstanding members of MoFo’s Privacy + Data Security team who were recently recognized by The Legal 500 2021. We could not be more proud of the work that all of our attorneys do serving our clients every day. And we could not be more appreciative of our clients and their continued trust in what we do.MoFo’s Privacy + Data Security Group received an overall Tier 1 ranking in the “Cyber Law” category (which includes data privacy and data protection). Lawyers recommended from the group include associates Mary Race (Key Lawyer) and Tiffany Quach (Key Lawyer), of counsel Melissa Crespo (Rising Star), and partners Julie O’Neill (Leading Lawyers), Purvi G. Patel (Recommended), and Christine Lyon (Recommended). Partners Miriam Wugmeister, who is co-chair of the group, and Kristen Mathews are listed in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame.<img src="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/images/blt5775cc69c999c255/bltf708c5b5f2f49536/62732182220ab5285f519405/210630-legal-500-privacy-recognition.jpg?format=auto&quality=60" alt="The Legal 500 2021 Recognizes Morrison & Foerster's Outstanding Privacy and Data Security Practitioners" class="img-responsive" type="asset" sys-style-type="download">

The Legal 500 2021 Recognizes Morrison & Foerster’s Outstanding Privacy and Data Security Practitioners

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Few lawyers in the world have Miriam Wugmeister’s breadth and understanding of privacy and data security laws, obligations, and practices. As co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s preeminent global Privacy + Data Security Group, Miriam is regularly called upon by some of the world’s largest and most complex multinational organizations to confront their most difficult U.S. and international privacy and cybersecurity challenges. Ranked among the top in the profession by all major directories, her clients say: “Miriam is the best privacy counsel in the country that I have ever worked with. Her advice is always spot-on, practical, and helpful, and her judgment is impeccable.” “Miriam is a true leader in her field. I appreciate her brilliance and expertise.” “She keeps up with a rapidly evolving area and is quick to answer the most challenging questions with practical guidance a business can use.” (Chambers USA).Miriam’s counsel is particularly prized for complex global privacy and data security incidents. She has navigated some of the largest and most consequential incidents in history, including assisting Mandiant when it discovered and warned the world about the SolarWinds compromise. Having helped hundreds of clients respond to cybersecurity incidents, Miriam is called upon to advise and educate boards of directors regarding cybersecurity and the key role that boards play in understanding and overseeing the potential risks. Miriam works with companies to develop comprehensive customized incident response plans, train staff, conduct extensive tabletop exercises, and address key issues with executive management. While she regularly advises clients on responses to ransomware attacks and other cyber extortion incidents, she works on all other aspects that arise in the context of large security incidents including communication strategies, notifications to customers, consumers, and regulators; public disclosures; interactions with law enforcement globally; litigation; and investigations by regulators around the world. Miriam advises organizations on the planning and execution of complex global compliance efforts and defends regulatory matters relating to privacy and cybersecurity in the United States and internationally.Miriam serves as a board member of the <a href="https://sustainability.adp.com/adp-innovation-strategy.html#:~:text=In%20harnessing%20the%20power%20of%20big%20data%20through,that%20involve%20artificial%20intelligence%2C%20ML%20and%20big%20data." target="_blank">ADP AI & Data Ethics Committee</a> and is a leader in <a href="/capabilities/artificial-intelligence" target="_self">MoFo’s AI Group</a>, a cross-practice team that provides sophisticated, full-service representation to a wide range of clients with companies that both develop and use cutting-edge, rapidly changing technology in the AI space. Miriam uses her extensive industry experience and collaborative global approach to provide her clients with fast access to the newest trends and developments in AI.As founder and leader of the Global Privacy Alliance (GPA), Miriam encourages the development of rational privacy laws around the world and monitors privacy practices, laws, and regulations globally. On behalf of the GPA’s members, she takes an active role in anticipating upcoming privacy legislation and educating regulators on the commercial implications of proposed regulations.Chambers USA and Chambers Global recommend Miriam in the top tier of privacy and data security lawyers worldwide, with clients commenting to Chambers USA that she is “extremely practical and phenomenally smart. Just about one of the best privacy advisers there is,” and The Legal 500 US recognizing her as a leading lawyer for her “professionalism and strong international presence.” For her work in data protection and privacy, Miriam was an inaugural inductee into The Legal 500 Hall of Fame, which is comprised of outstanding U.S. lawyers who have been recommended as The Legal 500’s Leading Lawyers for the last six consecutive years. The Cybersecurity Docket has recognized Miriam as one of its Incident Response 50, a list of the top data breach response lawyers globally. She has been named one of Financial Times’ Top 10 Innovative Lawyers in North America and a National Law Journal Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Trailblazer for her breakthrough work in this space. Miriam was also previously designated as an Ethisphere Attorney Who Matters and a BTI Client Service All-Star.

Miriam Wugmeister

Partner

Clients seek out Julie because of her practical advice on cutting-edge issues at the intersection of privacy and consumer protection laws. She provides clients with practical solutions to compliance challenges around a wide variety of both online and offline privacy issues, including tracking, interest-based advertising, geo-targeting and other mobile tracking, personalization, and cross-device tracking. Recognized in The Legal 500 US 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020 and Chambers USA 2021 for her exceptional legal work, her clients praise her saying, “She is really good at giving practical, targeted advice and taking stock of what the risk profile of the client is, so that the advice is holistic.” (Chambers USA 2021).Julie provides clients with creative and practical advice on meeting the requirements of state and federal privacy laws, including the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). She crafts guidelines and compliance programs for clients’ collection, use, and disclosure of personal information in diverse contexts and throughout the life cycle of their initiatives, such as for connected products (the Internet of Things) and mobile services. She also drafts privacy and cookies policies, online service terms of use, agreements involving online and offline advertising and marketing practices, and agreements concerning a variety of data uses. In addition, Julie helps clients assess and manage privacy risks, including in connection with mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic transactions.Julie creates compliance programs for clients’ use of a wide variety of channels for communicating with and marketing to consumers, including email, telephone, text message, and fax, both in the United States and around the world. She works with clients to develop their social media strategies and to clear their social media content. She also reviews advertising in both traditional and new media for compliance with applicable laws, including Section 5 of the FTC Act and various FTC rules and guides. In addition, she works with clients to structure, market, and implement their sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions in compliance with applicable laws.As a former FTC staff attorney, Julie regularly defends companies in investigations by the FTC and before data protection authorities around the world.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>A company that creates online software used by schools in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations.</li><li>A consumer services company investigated by the Korean data protection authority for alleged privacy violations</li><li>A manufacturer in connection with a challenge of its environmental advertising claims by the FTC </li><li>An advertising services company in an investigation of alleged privacy-related violations of the FTC Act</li><li>An online provider of entertainment services in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations</li><li>A beverage company in an FTC investigation of alleged COPPA violations</li></ul>Before attending law school, Julie was a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa.

Julie O'Neill

Purvi G. Patel is the former managing partner of the Los Angeles office.Purvi represents retail, e-commerce, and other consumer-oriented businesses in significant advertising, unfair competition, consumer fraud, and privacy matters. She has built a robust practice advising household names on various compliance issues and defending them in complex and class action litigation in federal and state courts across the country, winning motions to dismiss, defeating class certification, and securing summary disposition in several multi-million dollar lawsuits. Purvi is a strategic and practical thinker who is in tune with her clients’ priorities, which leads to successful outcomes both inside and outside the courthouse.Practice Leader. Purvi has a defined niche that cuts across the firm’s Consumer Litigation, Class Actions, and Privacy + Data Security Groups. With a focus on businesses’ collection of personally identifiable information (PII), Purvi is a recognized leader in defending lawsuits involving the collection, use, and disclosure of PII. In addition, due to her vast experience handling class action litigation for clients across sectors, Purvi has notched significant victories for industry-leading companies, including securing summary judgment and defeating class certification in some of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions nationwide.Owing to her extensive litigation experience, Purvi is uniquely positioned to counsel clients on compliance with established and emerging laws and regulations, including the potential privacy implications of business practices relating to the collection of PII. Purvi is the firm’s expert regarding California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act and analog statutes in effect in other states, and she is at the forefront of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), the most expansive piece of privacy legislation in U.S. history. Purvi was among the first lawyers to issue a comprehensive alert on its passage and presented a “concise, efficiently laid out, informative and practical” webinar on key compliance measures that drew more than 900 attendees. As a result of her demonstrated expertise, Purvi is advising a number of household name companies across multiple industries on the CCPA’s operational impact.Purvi is also committed to the firm’s pro bono initiatives and has worked on a number of pro bono matters during her tenure at the firm. Most recently, she represented an interfaith coalition of more than 50 religious organizations as amici in various cases challenging the 2017 “travel ban” Executive Orders. In 2014, Purvi successfully argued a Ninth Circuit appeal on behalf of a U.S. citizen who was wrongfully subjected to two years of pre-trial detention as a result of a detainer imposed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Mendia v. Garcia, 768 F.3d 1009 (9th Cir. 2014)).Firm Leader. Purvi is committed to advancing diversity at Morrison & Foerster. For more than five years, she served as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Diversity Strategy Committee. During her tenure, Purvi contributed significantly to the Committee’s success, including achieving Mansfield Certification Plus four times, implementing a LGBTQ+ Gender Inclusive Policy, and launching MoFo’s innovative Allies Network. She was the firm’s Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow in 2014 and remains active in the organization as an alumna. In addition, Purvi served as hiring partner for the Los Angeles office between 2015 and 2023.Community Leader. Purvi is also actively engaged in the community. In 2019, she was a founding board member of Legal Education Access Pipeline (LEAP), a fellows program dedicated to increasing access to legal education for underrepresented populations.  She has also been working with “Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization” (JTB) since 2015 when she joined an inaugural steering committee of judges, in-house and outside counsel, and educators to launch a Los Angeles-based Summer Legal Institute. She is a past co-president of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California (SABA-SC), and in 2023, was honored with its Trailblazer award. She was selected for her “trailblazing efforts which have paved the way for a more inclusive and representative profession” and “her commitment to breaking barriers in the legal profession.” In 2019, Purvi was named SABA-SC’s Mentor of the Year.Representative Matters<ul><li>Privacy Class Action Litigation. Defending software development company in two putative class actions brought under state common law based on alleged violations of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Obtained dismissal of putative privacy class action against Southern California grocery store chain, which was affirmed on appeal. </li><li>Class Action Litigation Relating to Consumer PII. Represented national retailers in more than 30 California Song-Beverly Credit Card Act and Massachusetts’ Song-Beverly analog matters arising out of the alleged collection of PII, securing favorable settlements or walkaways for many following early negotiations with plaintiffs’ counsel. Trial attorney for national retailers in two Song-Beverly class actions. For Target Corporation, led pre-MDL team coordinating and managing responses to single-plaintiff and putative class action complaints filed in wake of data breach.</li></ul><ul><li>False Advertising and Consumer Class Action Litigation. Defeated class certification for household-name companies in numerous matters involving consumer protection claims arising out of alleged misrepresentations and omissions as well as lawsuits brought under unfair competition, false advertising, and product liability laws. Also obtained dismissals at the pleadings stage in cases alleging unfair, unlawful, and fraudulent marketing and advertising practices.</li></ul>

Purvi Patel

Melissa Crespo helps clients navigate a wide range of challenging privacy compliance and data security matters with a focus on the health information and the health care sector. She regularly helps clients develop and implement privacy compliance programs and advises companies on managing risk in connection with cutting-edge technologies and data initiatives.Melissa has particular experience in advising clients on compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other laws governing the collection and use of medical and health information.Melissa regularly counsels clients responding to data breaches and security incidents. She has successfully defended clients in numerous regulatory inquiries regarding data security practices, including investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, state attorneys general, and foreign regulators following data security incidents.Melissa also advises multinational companies on the privacy and data security aspects of their M&A transactions and has experience drafting and negotiating tailored privacy and data security contract provisions.In 2019, 2020, and 2021, The Legal 500 US recognized Melissa as a “Rising Star” in the area of cyber law, data privacy, and data protection. In 2016, she was shortlisted for the “Future Leader – Gender Diversity” award at the inaugural Chambers USA Diversity Awards. Melissa was a 2015 recipient of the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, which honors excellence in legal writing.Melissa earned her J.D., cum laude, from Howard University School of Law.

Melissa Crespo

Mary Race assists clients with a wide range of challenging privacy compliance and data security matters. Her practice focuses on managing privacy risks and helping clients develop and implement comprehensive privacy programs across a variety of industries, including tech, retail, manufacturing, advertising, social media, and communications.Mary is a go-to source of guidance on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and other state privacy laws, as well as a thought leader on the complexities of these laws, offering clients practical compliance advice. She also counsels clients on privacy matters worldwide, including advising one of the world’s largest international companies on deploying new technologies in 40+ jurisdictions.Mary works on high-profile M&A transactions for multinational clients, such as Salesforce, the global leader in customer relationship management. She frequently advises cutting-edge startups as well as tech industry and social media giants on the privacy and data security aspects of their platforms, products, and services.Mary has a history of commitment to pro bono service. In law school, she volunteered for Pro Bono Students Canada, with a focus on environmental law and social justice.  She continues her pro bono work at MoFo, where she argued an appeal for a pro bono client before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and supports pro bono clients in building out their privacy programs.Following her studies at McGill University’s Faculty of Law, Mary served as a law clerk to the Honorable Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining the firm, Mary was a development consultant for Human Rights Watch and taught writing at the University of Southern California.Mary is also an accomplished pianist and organist.

Mary Race

Of Counsel

Privacy + Data Security