Jessica McGahie Sawyer

Jessi also helps companies implement cybersecurity and data privacy assessments, including assessments conducted under privilege, as well as preparation for third-party audits and certification, such as ISO 27001:2022 and CMMC. She provides incident response services, including handling some of the largest and most complex data breaches involving millions of consumer records. She also represents companies in various complex litigation, class actions and government investigations, including dozens of class actions resulting from data breach incidents.

Jessi maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on obtaining asylum for unaccompanied children. In addition, she has represented pro bono clients in mortgage fraud cases and worked with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking to obtain T-visas for victims of human trafficking. Prior to attending law school, Jessi was a Los Angeles corps member of Teach for America, a national program in which recent college graduates commit to teach for two years in low-income schools.

Jessi regularly speaks on data privacy and protection, and cyber-related issues, including international data privacy frameworks.

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• Advised prime contractors on compliance with DFARS 252.204-7012, including incident reporting obligations, and in their preparation for CMMC in both enterprise and enclave environments, including privileged readiness assessments conducted in coordination with technical advisors
• Advised a cloud services provider on data security and incident response in its government services offering, including advice on FedRAMP authorization
• Advised a big data company on its cybersecurity compliance program, including the development and implementation of a vulnerability management and data breach response plan
• Investigated and interviewed multiple employees in a complex matter involving theft of documents from employees’ workstations during the employment separations of a business team, including supporting the resulting litigation through legal and technical analysis of the former employees’ actions
• Managed annual IT audits for compliance with India’s Information Technology Rules (which incorporate ISO/IEC 27001) for an audit and advisory firm with India-based operations; also provided legal support for annual SOC 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 audits
• Reviewed and developed AI policies and standards for multiple organizations based on AI frameworks such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) and ISO/IEC 42001
• Advised a global provider of connected car applications on compliance with privacy and cybersecurity regulations, including the GDPR and China’s Cybersecurity Law
• Advised numerous companies on responses to ransomware and phishing incidents, including preservation of privilege, coordination with law enforcement, retention of a forensics provider, advice on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency issues, communications with affected patients and regulators, and remediation and recovery from the incident
• Advised a university regarding data protection compliance and governance, including the scope of application of the GDPR to activities in the EU and US, compliance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and compliance with US privacy and data protection laws
• Advised a big data company on a 15 million-record data breach, including forensics, consumer notification, response to government investigations and defense of litigation*
• Represented a big data company in series of nationwide class actions after a breach of mobile applicant data*
• Represented a consumer credit reporting agency in connection with an investigation and lawsuit initiated by the Attorney General of Mississippi challenging the client’s credit reporting and consumer marketing activities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act and the Dodd-Frank Act*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

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