The team at Latham & Watkins is seen by clients as ‘a pleasure to work with on high-profile, difficult matters’, which regularly include incident response, privacy litigation and regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings. London-based Gail Crawford co-chairs the firm’s global privacy and cybersecurity practice, an interdisciplinary group comprised of data and technology transactional specialists and experienced commercial litigators. On the contentious side, the ‘excellent’ Ian Felstead is noted, while Fiona Maclean is recommended for relevant advisory work. James Lloyd is a key name for complex cybersecurity mandates.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'The data protection and privacy team are a real standout team. They combine excellent data protection knowledge (with the latest up to the minute developments) with very insightful strategic and practical advice. A pleasure to work with on high-profile, difficult matters.'
  • 'The UK team is second to none in terms of giving strong, clear data protection advice on how to manage compliance and risks associated with UK GDPR.'
  • 'Latham & Watkins thinks about issues on a macro level and takes pragmatic positions.'
  • 'Deep bench strength and expertise, practical, solution focused, responsive. I trust this team.'
  • 'Gail Crawford, Danielle van der Merwe; James Lloyd - deep understanding of this area of law and ability to translate that understanding into practical advice. Experienced and able to offer sage counsel.'
  • 'L&W's data privacy team are exceptional in many areas. They work as a team, always provide the right level of support and knowledge and are a joy to work with.'
  • 'My key contact is Danielle van der Merwe who is really the best data privacy and cybersecurity lawyer I've ever worked with. She is the best of the best in this space and I would not go anywhere else for advice in this space.'
  • 'Ian Felstead - excellent and impressive adviser in this space.'

Key clients

  • Meta Platforms, Inc. and Meta Platforms Ireland Limited
  • AllianceBernstein
  • Yum! Brands, Inc.
  • Crunchbase
  • Vonage
  • New Era Cap
  • Tyra Biosciences, Inc.
  • Rimac Auto
  • Tyman plc
  • Battery Ventures / Skalar Analytical
  • Teleperformance
  • Emma Sleep UK Limited
  • Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited
  • SAP SE
  • Thomson Reuters

Work highlights

  • Representing Meta in a number of multi-jurisdictional regulatory investigations and inquiries regarding alleged data breaches and compliance with data protection laws.
  • Advised AllianceBernstein on the data protection aspects of the formation and operation of its joint venture with Societe Generale.

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.

Gail Crawford

Other key lawyers

Ian Felstead, Danielle van der Merwe, James Lloyd, Fiona Maclean, Calum Docherty, Hayley Pizzey