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Data today drives nearly all enterprises, and Partner Timothy Toohey, head of Greenberg Glusker’s Cyber Security Practice, works to assure that his clients’ proprietary, personal, customer and employee information, and other sensitive data is fully protected and serves its intended purposes.

A United States Certified Information Privacy Professional, a European Union Certified Information Privacy Professional, and a Certified Information Privacy Manager, Tim understands both the value and challenges of collecting, retrieving, storing, and employing data.

“Protecting the data and intellectual assets of a company is essential to protecting its brand,” says Tim. “In a data-centric world, unauthorized access and dissemination of personal and proprietary data can be fatal to a business. Our job as privacy and data security lawyers is to help clients understand and manage these risks.”

Cutting edge business advice for IP, privacy, and data security

An intellectual property lawyer as well as a privacy and data security attorney, Tim works hand-in-hand with organizations, entrepreneurs, and high-profile individuals—entertainers, actors, and athletes—on matters of data strategy and security, drawing upon his proven ability to translate technical aspects to non-technical persons. He helps his varied clients efficiently collect and secure the data and intellectual property crucial to their success in today’s connected world.

On the cutting edge of data’s role in all aspects of society and particularly in areas with legal implications, Tim also skillfully facilitates conversations to mediate between the needs of technologists and executives. He advises clients on what can be done to maximize effective data usage to comply with national and international laws, regulations, and best practices.  If necessary, Tim represents clients in litigation involving data security, privacy, and technology.

Trans-national focus

Tim’s counsel also extends to enterprises whose activity touches and crosses foreign borders. “Although we may think of the Internet as borderless, it often is not. Greatly different laws apply throughout the world,” explains Tim. “Data not only becomes fodder for the varied purposes of international hackers, it also presents additional challenges in dealing with cross-border privacy and data transfer laws, which continue to broaden and evolve.” Counseling clients on trans-border data transfers and processing issues is therefore a key aspect of Tim’s practice.

Proven success in complex IP litigation

Among Tim’s notable cases was his participation in the successful resolution of a multi-layered intellectual property litigation involving a motion picture franchise. The case presented complex issues of copyright and trademark law that required sorting out various strands of domestic and international law, as well as complex historical evidence.  Success was achieved by shaping a coherent narrative that emphasized the importance of the intellectual property at issue in light of the investment made by the creators of the motion pictures.

“Protection of data and technology is key to a company’s success in our highly interconnected world,” says Tim. “I am committed to bringing the best legal team and the most up-to-date counsel and advice to our clients, wherever they are in world.”

Professional Affiliations

  • Member of the Arbitration Panel for the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework
  • Executive Committee Member, Privacy & Cybersecurity Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA)

Bar Admissions

  • California

Court Admissions

  • United States District Court for the Central and Northern Districts of California

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law  (J.D., 1985)
  • Harvard University  (Ph.D., 1980)
    • Modern European and British History
  • Wadham College, University of Oxford  (B.A., 1975)
    • Rhodes Scholar
    • Modern European History
  • Stanford University  (B.A., 1972)
    • Modern European History, German and Literature