Former Cisco Systems Executive Adam M. Golodner to Lead Kaye Scholer’s New Global Cybersecurity & Privacy Group
Joins firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation Department as partner in Washington, DC
Washington, DC—Noted cyber lawyer Adam Golodner has joined Kaye Scholer as a partner in its Washington, DC office. His practice focuses on global legal and policy issues relating to cybersecurity and privacy, including policy and regulatory advocacy, litigation, corporate governance and transactions. He will also represent clients facing investigations or lawsuits related to state and federal privacy and data security laws.
A member of the firm's Complex Commercial Litigation Department, Golodner will lead Kaye Scholer's new Global Cybersecurity & Privacy Group, comprising more than a dozen experienced lawyers in the US and Europe. The new Group will provide strategic cyber policy advice and advocacy and represent clients facing cyber and privacy-related regulatory actions, complex litigation and class actions, corporate governance and compliance and transactional issues.
"Of all the strategic risks C-level executives face, perhaps none threaten to undermine a company's reputation and business model more than the disruption of the provision of core functional services, the loss of proprietary data or the breach of confidential customer information," says Kaye Scholer Managing Partner Michael Solow. "As such, regardless of their industry, nearly every one of our clients can potentially benefit from the insights and counsel Adam offers. We are pleased to welcome such an accomplished and much sought after cybersecurity authority."
Golodner arrives from Cisco Systems, Inc. where, for more than a decade, he created and led Cisco's global cybersecurity and privacy policy initiatives. In that role, he served as an advisor to the White House, Congress, various US agencies, as well as governmental entities in the European Commission, Japan, India, and other countries on issues such as critical infrastructure protection, information sharing, supply chains and product integrity. Additionally, he has served on the OECD Security Experts Group, the Executive Committee of the IT-SCC, been a delegate to Budapest and the Seoul Global Conferences on Cyberspace, and a member of the White House's E-Commerce Working Group; and working groups of the White House's National Information Infrastructure (NII) Task Force; the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Communications Committee; and the Department of Justice's Privacy Council.
Golodner has been working on issues at the intersection of law, technology, policy and economics for more than 20 years. He has served in senior positions in government, academia and law. Prior to his position at Cisco, he served as Associate Director of the Institute for Security, Technology and Society at Dartmouth College, Chief-of-Staff of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, and the Deputy Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service, USDA. Golodner's service as the former Chief-of-Staff of the Antitrust Division of the DOJ allowed him to hone both his antitrust enforcement and his regulatory prosecution skills, an asset for clients facing enhanced regulatory scrutiny.
A recent industry survey revealed that the top five technology threats to business in order of concern were social media, data mining and analytics, mobile applications, cloud computing and cyberattacks, all issues that Golodner regularly dealt with while at Cisco.
"From breaches like the one that Target recently experienced to politically sensitive issues such as how much customer information ISP providers must turn over to officials should the government subpoena such records, companies face truly challenging legal issues when it comes to cybersecurity," according to Partner Michael Rogoff, Co-Chair of Kaye Scholer's Complex Commercial Litigation Department. "Adam's background at Cisco advising on and helping to shape policy related to data protection and privacy, combined with his litigation experience, will provide both corporate and municipal clients with the practical, real-time solutions they require."
Golodner is a frequent speaker and panelist on cyber and privacy topics for such organizations as the World Economic Forum, the State Department, and Council on Foreign Relations. He received his JD from the University of Colorado School of Law, and is a Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies, Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business.