The privacy and data protection team at Bird & Bird is ‘unique because it has excellent global reach and expertise’: working as part of an integrated global practice, it tracks international precedents to best support clients within Australia’s changing regulatory environment. The ’very knowledgeable’ Sophie Dawson co-leads the team from Sydney, advising major companies on privacy law reform and providing strategic privacy advice. Also in Sydney, Hamish Fraser co-leads the team with notable experience in providing data breach advice to global platforms and cloud providers. Privacy compliance is an area of strength for Sydney partner Julie Cheeseman, who works with clients from a range of industries encompassing the media, technology, retail and consumer sectors, among others.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Sophie Dawson is excellent - completely across a rapidly changing area of law and practice.'
- 'Bird & Bird's practice is unique because it has excellent global reach and expertise, especially in the technology, media and telecommunications space. Their data protection and cyber security practice, in particular, bats very deep.'
- 'They have multiple very senior, capable and experienced partners who include privacy and cyber within their expertise, as well as a team of well respected senior and junior lawyers who are all very capable in this space.'
- 'Sophie Dawson is very knowledgeable and provides practical advice and insights.'
- 'All round in-depth knowledge of data privacy, data protection and cybersecurity laws.'
Key clients
- National Roads and Motorists Association
- Tencent
- TPG Telecom
Work highlights
- Advising several clients with instructions in relation to highly sensitive and time critical matters arising out of three of Australia’s recent large-scale data breaches: Medicare, Optus and Latitude.
- Advising several clients with important privacy compliance work. This work has included advice on the application of Australian privacy and other relevant laws to complex novel technologies.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Sophie Dawson, Hamish Fraser