Mary J. Hildebrand CIPP/US/E

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Mary founded and leads the firm’s Privacy & Cybersecurity group with the primary goal of enabling companies to launch and grow their businesses while staying in compliance with complex global regulations governing the collection and commercial use of personal information.

Access to data is critical to the growth of many kinds of businesses; however, its misuse can expose companies, executives, and employees to serious liability. Mary’s commitment to learning the intricacies of each client’s business enables her to anticipate and mitigate risk as privacy and cyber laws quickly evolve on the state, federal, and international level. She is a recognized authority on EU and U.S. data privacy and information security laws, including the CCPA, CPRA, and the GDPR, targeted statutes such as HIPAA, GLBA, COPPA, the NYSDFS Cybersecurity Regulation, and multiple laws governing biometric data.  Mary stays ahead of the curve advising clients on new developments including recent legislation in California, Virginia and Colorado, and FTC enforcement of Regulation 5.

Cyberattacks are a fact of life across industry sectors, and Mary regularly counsels clients on breach preparedness, response and remediation strategy. When companies assemble a crisis response team, she is frequently at the top of the list. Mary leverages her deep knowledge and experience to provide practical, spot-on advice focused on ensuring that the business continues to thrive during and after the crisis has passed.

Mary’s extensive experience in intellectual property and technology in a broad array of industries enhances her ability to understand the data-driven challenges companies face today. For more than 30 years, clients have turned to her as a trusted advisor; she has successfully guided business leaders and general counsel through difficult decisions and hundreds of sophisticated tech/data deals from concept to closing. She regularly serves as lead counsel to both public and private companies in complex commercial and compliance matters, helping clients commercialize, protect, and  manage their intellectual property, technology, and database assets around the world; she also counsels startups on the transactions and foundational legal structures needed to launch their businesses.

A highly regarded "top-notch," "hugely responsive," and "skilled, bright and knowledgeable" practitioner, Mary has been consistently recognized by Chambers USA (2009-2020) for her successful handling of complex transactions involving significant IP and database assets. Her clients commend her as "a phenomenal client manager" who gives "useful, pragmatic, practical advice."