Cooley's Privacy Practice and Partner Mike Rhodes Named National Leaders in Privacy Law

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 12, 2012) - Cooley LLP announced that Law360 recently named its national Privacy practice a 'Privacy and Consumer Protection Practice Group of the Year' and named Litigation department chair Mike Rhodes a 'Privacy MVP.'

Rhodes and Cooley attorney Susan Lu Lyon co-chair the group of more than 40 attorneys who advise some of the world's most high-profile companies in privacy counseling and litigation. Clients include eBay, Facebook, Google, HTC and LinkedIn.

"We've been able to build from that early start into a large group of people doing this day in and day out," Rhodes told Law360 in a profile interview that accompanied his accolade as Privacy MVP. "We've developed a reputation for being one of a handful of go-to firms for social media and Web 2.0 companies on privacy issues."

Cooley has defended Facebook in multiple privacy class actions and last week a Cooley team led by Rhodes secured an important win for Google in defeating class certification sought by hundreds of thousands of AdWords advertisers. Cooley is advising on more than a dozen active privacy class actions around the United States, and also handling numerous regulatory investigations involving the FTC and state attorneys general.

Lyon, formerly an in-house privacy attorney with Dell and Microsoft, also has deep experience in this sector, advising high-profile businesses and industry groups on critical privacy issues, including behavioral targeting and advertising, online and mobile tracking and monitoring using automatic tracking technology. Lyon recently represented CTIA, The International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, in responses to privacy reports issued by the FTC and U.S. Department of Commerce.

"Our privacy practice is firmly at the heart of this rapidly evolving global phenomenon over what constitutes privacy and its limits -- from digital, social media, e-commerce and telecommunications sectors, to others including national security and healthcare," Lyon said.

Cooley's Privacy practice expanded in size and scope during the last year. Drew Gantt, who joined the firm as a partner in 2011, chairs Cooley's Health Care Regulatory practice and focuses on HIPAA and other health care and e-health privacy and data security matters. Joel F. Brenner, who joined as of counsel in late 2010, specializes in global risk management and internal investigations, in addition to privacy and data security matters. He was senior counsel at the National Security Agency and is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law & National Security. Both attorneys are based in Cooley's Washington, D.C. office.

About Cooley LLP

Cooley's 650 attorneys have an entrepreneurial spirit and deep, substantive experience, and are committed to solving clients' most challenging legal matters. From small companies with big ideas to international enterprises with diverse legal needs, Cooley has the breadth of legal resources to enable companies of all sizes to seize opportunities in today's global marketplace. The firm represents clients across a broad array of dynamic industry sectors, including technology, life sciences, venture capital, clean energy, real estate and retail.

The firm has full-service offices in major business and technology centers across the United States in Palo Alto, CA, New York, NY, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Reston, VA, Broomfield, CO, Washington, DC, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA. The firm also has an office in Shanghai, China.