Contact: Mark Fefer, Marketing Communications, 206.757.8583 or markfefer@dwt.com
SEPT. 5, 2018 – Helen Goff Foster, a leader in privacy and cybersecurity compliance and consumer protection law, has joined Davis Wright Tremaine as a partner in our Washington, D.C., office. She will deepen the bench of privacy and security legal expertise we provide to clients as well as serve as Chief Privacy Officer of the firm.
Ms. Foster brings to the firm over 20 years of experience across four federal agencies, the White House, and in private law practice in Washington, D.C. Most recently, Ms. Foster implemented agency-wide privacy policies and programs at the Department of the Treasury and Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing them into compliance with the Privacy Act—the federal government analog to the recent European Union General Data Protection Regulation.
“Helen will offer our clients the insight and connections of a former regulator, the business acumen of an experienced corporate advocate and counselor, and the practical know-how gained from implementing privacy and data security measures across large, multi-faceted organizations,” said John Seiver, senior lawyer in Davis Wright Tremaine’s privacy and security practice. “She will deliver tremendous advantages for our clients.”
Ms. Foster’s extensive federal career began at the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, performing investigations and enforcement actions and leading some of the agency’s first rulemakings under FCRA and GLBA.
At the White House during the Obama administration, she co-authored executive orders designed to improve cybersecurity and information sharing, and created some of the first information sharing guidelines and agreements between the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence community. She also served on the executive committee of the Federal Privacy Council and was a member of the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee.
Before her federal career, Ms. Foster spent eight years in private law practice in Washington, D.C., at Bryan Cave and WilmerHale, where she counseled a range of clients, including consumer financial services providers, data aggregators, internet service providers, and retailers, on the full spectrum of privacy, advertising, and marketing compliance issues. She has extensive experience representing clients in enforcement and rulemaking actions before the FTC.
Ms. Foster received her B.A. from Villanova University and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
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. For more information, visit www.dwt.com.