Contact: Mark Fefer, Marketing Communications, 206.757.8583 or markfefer@dwt.com
JUNE 14, 2018 – The privacy and security practice group at Davis Wright Tremaine has substantially strengthened its bench with the addition of six new lawyers, including a leading litigator from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
“We are better equipped than ever to assist clients with compliance, incident preparedness and response, and, if necessary, litigation and enforcement,” said Christin McMeley, Davis Wright Tremaine’s privacy and security practice chair.
Joining the firm this week is Christopher A. Ott, who has served as an influential law enforcement official for multiple administrations, and who will be a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
Mr. Ott led some of the largest white collar investigations in DOJ history, won dozens of trials as a first-chair litigator, and spearheaded some of the DOJ’s first successful cyber investigations. Most recently, Mr. Ott served as Senior Counterintelligence and Cyber Counsel with the DOJ’s National Security Division, where he led the division’s investigations into cyber intrusions by hackers working with nation states.
“Chris brings to the firm an exceptional understanding of the data security challenges facing our clients,” said Ms. McMeley. “His deep knowledge of the enforcement process, expertise with large, cross-border investigations, and invaluable network of contacts across the law enforcement, intelligence, and regulatory communities, will provide our clients a significant advantage in addressing these formidable concerns.”
“I know that complex issues can be solved by partnering with top-notch legal help,” said Mr. Ott. “At DOJ I have worked closely with victim companies to assist with their compliance efforts, evaluate their cybersecurity infrastructure, and tackle major incidents. I look forward to expanding that work with the first-rate team at Davis Wright.”
Mr. Ott’s experience includes serving as senior trial counsel in the Eastern District of New York, where he investigated and charged the first criminal case involving criminal trading on hacked information (United States v. Korchevsky, et. al.). He has over 12 years of experience winning more than 30 jury trials and dozens of oral arguments in federal appellate and trial courts throughout the U.S.
Said McMeley: "Chris’s enforcement experience will complement our existing incident preparedness and response capabilities, and will pair well with the deep technical expertise of Amy Mushahwar, who joined our practice last year.”
Mr. Ott earned his A.B. at Dartmouth College and his J.D. at Emory University School of Law. He joined the DOJ immediately after his federal clerkships. He is currently admitted to practice in California only.
In addition to Mr. Ott, Davis Wright Tremaine has recently expanded its privacy and security team with the following experienced professionals:
Brandon Graves (Counsel – D.C.), who advises defense contractors, multinational energy companies, and leading banking and payments companies, among other clients, on internal and government investigations, crisis management, and litigation.
Rachel Marmor (Counsel – New York), former eDiscovery and information governance counsel at Barclays, who focuses her practice on the assessment of legal obligations and risks throughout the information lifecycle, and who provides international privacy expertise at a crucial time for clients’ GDPR compliance.
Lyra Correa (Associate – D.C.), who previously worked in the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights on HIPAA matters, and who supports our nationally recognized Health Information Privacy team (recently listed by Chambers USA in the nationwide “Spotlight Table” for Privacy & Data Security). She is currently admitted to practice in Maryland only.
Maayan Lattin (Associate – D.C.), who has a strong background advising technology and communication companies on their privacy transactional and regulatory matters, and also brings experience with student and child online privacy issues.
Maryam Casbarro (Associate – D.C.), who recently joined the firm from Debevoise & Plimpton and who will be working on all aspects of privacy and security, as well as litigation.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 550 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm’s 24/7 breach response team assists companies in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from information security incidents. The firm analyzes and reports on privacy and security issues at https://www.privsecblog.com and publishes a map of U.S. data breach notification statutes at https://www.dwt.com/statedatabreachstatutes. For more information, visit www.dwt.com.