Pillsbury Forms Global Security Team to Serve Security Strategy and Compliance Needs

This new team’s members include renowned authorities in these areas providing comprehensive prevention, mitigation, defense and recovery guidance. Global Security-related areas in which Pillsbury’s lawyers have protected our clients’ interests include:

Legislative

Pillsbury’s Global Security team is well-versed in security legislation and administrative policies, and it frequently interfaces with federal, state and local agencies. It has created and implemented “safe harbor” programs for companies that invest in security products and services. It has helped clients pursue administrative and legislative priorities related to cybersecurity and national defense policy, and secure funding for a variety of projects through the Congressional appropriations process. Our Government Law & Strategies Practice lawyers help clients shape responses to key legislative proposals, such as the Cybersecurity Framework called for in the President’s Executive Order, and provide advocacy and lobbying on cybersecurity-related legislation, procurement policies and regulatory measures.

Regulatory Compliance Assessment, Counseling and Training

The Global Security team helps clients develop and update data protection and security plans to comply with ever-changing laws, regulations and industry standards. This work covers unique regulatory, compliance and disclosure obligations imposed on specific sectors, including government and defense contractors, financial services, energy, transportation, health care, and communications.

Risk Management and Transfer

Members of the Global Security team have prepared more than 100 applications under the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act for a wide variety of services and products. The act provides companies with a unique way to limit or eliminate liability in the event of an “act of terrorism,” and is a valuable tool every company should consider using.

Insurance Recovery

Our top-ranked Insurance Recovery services provide policyholders with critical assistance in obtaining “state-of-the-art” cyberinsurance. Likewise, when a loss or potential loss occurs, our team can advise and, if necessary, litigate to enforce clients’ coverage rights across a variety of industries, including health care, financial services, energy and retail.

Crisis Management

As one of the first law firms to develop a formal Crisis Management Team, we have developed battle-tested strategies and tactics for emergency response and loss management. The team has guided clients through such crises as the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon-Valdez spills and aviation accidents around the world.

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights

With corporate espionage and advanced persistent threats on the rise—potentially jeopardizing the digitally maintained intellectual property assets of companies across industries—Pillsbury can advise on IP protection and enforcement.

Cybersecurity Disclosures and SEC Investigations

Companies are under increasing pressure to disclose the risks of cyber-incidents, and failure to disclose a cyber-breach may lead to a formal SEC investigation, shareholder class actions or derivative lawsuits. Our Securities Litigation lawyers have extensive experience guiding clients with disclosure issues and in responding to formal and informal inquiries and proceedings.

Outsourcing IT Security

Pillsbury Global Sourcing lawyers and advisors have architected more than 1,000 strategic outsourcing and technology transactions over the past 25 years, and are qualified to help our clients with all aspects of outsourcing IT Security.

National Security

The team also helps clients navigate the maze of government national security codes and regulations, including the interpretation of DFARS, export control compliance matters arising under ITAR and EAR, and notifications to CFIUS. The team helps shape legislation, regulatory policy, and spending priorities in the Executive Branch and Congress.

Brian Finch, a partner in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, is a leading authority on the SAFETY Act and serves as co-head of Pillsbury’s Global Security Services team along with DC partner Nancy Fischer, who leads the firm’s 60-lawyer Government Law & Strategies Practice and Public Practices section in DC. Recently, both the National Law Journal and Law360 identified Finch as a Rising Star, and he was also named by the Washingtonian among its “40 Lobbyists under 40.” Fischer is a Chambers-ranked International Trade lawyer.

International Energy Forum Event

Pillsbury’s Global Security Services team will co-host with the International Energy Forum a roundtable on “Cybersecurity in the Global Energy Sector,” on Oct. 9, from 9:30 to 5 p.m. in Washington, DC. The Honorable William Ostendorff, a Commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will deliver the keynote address. Clete Johnson, the Chief Counsel for the Cybersecurity, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC, is the featured speaker.

About Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Pillsbury is a full-service law firm with an industry focus on energy & natural resources, financial services including financial institutions, real estate & construction, and technology. Based in the world's major financial, technology and energy centers, Pillsbury counsels clients on global business, regulatory and litigation matters. We work in multidisciplinary teams that allow us to understand our clients’ objectives, anticipate trends and bring a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues—helping clients to take greater advantage of new opportunities, meet and exceed their objectives and better mitigate risk. This collaborative work style helps produce the results our clients seek.