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Summary
DLA Piper is seeking a highly qualified Counsel to join its nationally recognized Data Protection, Privacy and Security practice in Palo Alto. This lawyer will work closely with emerging growth companies, venture-backed technology companies, unicorns, public technology companies, venture capital investors, and strategic acquirers, providing practical, business-focused privacy, cybersecurity, AI governance, and product counseling advice throughout the corporate lifecycle. The ideal candidate will partner closely with corporate, emerging growth and venture capital, M&A, employment, commercial contracting, and litigation teams to provide integrated counseling on privacy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and digital regulatory matters.
Responsibilities
Advise technology companies on U.S. and international privacy and data protection laws, including state privacy statutes and global privacy frameworks.
Counsel clients on AI governance, responsible AI deployment, data use practices, training data considerations, and emerging regulatory obligations.
Draft, review, and negotiate privacy and data security provisions in commercial, technology, SaaS, licensing, cloud services, strategic partnership, and vendor agreements.
Support venture-backed and high-growth companies from formation through exit, including privacy compliance program development and product launches.
Conduct privacy and cybersecurity diligence for venture financings, mergers, acquisitions, investments, and strategic transactions.
Advise on incident response preparedness, regulatory investigations, breach notification obligations, and security governance frameworks.
Develop privacy notices, policies, data processing agreements, consent mechanisms, and internal governance documentation.
Partner with product, engineering, security, and executive leadership teams to integrate privacy-by-design and AI governance principles into business operations.
Collaborate with lawyers across the Emerging Growth and Venture Capital, Technology Transactions, and M&A practices to deliver coordinated counsel to technology-focused clients.
Experience
Approximately 8-15 years of relevant privacy, cybersecurity, technology transactions, or regulatory counseling experience.
Significant experience advising technology companies on privacy and data governance issues.
Deep familiarity with California privacy laws, consumer privacy regulation, data security requirements, and emerging AI regulations.
Experience supporting venture-backed companies, software companies, AI companies, cloud providers, digital platforms, or other technology-focused businesses.
Strong drafting, negotiation, and client counseling skills.
Ability to manage sophisticated matters independently while working effectively across multiple practice groups.
Desired Skills
Product counseling for AI, SaaS, cloud, marketplace, or platform companies.
Venture capital and emerging company ecosystem experience.
Transactional privacy and cybersecurity diligence.
Cross-border data transfer and international compliance counseling.
AI governance and generative AI advisory work.
Regulatory investigation and incident response experience.
Education
J.D. from an accredited law school with strong academic credentials.
Bar Admission
Admission to the California Bar.
Essential Job Expectations
While the specific job requirements of a DLA Piper position may vary depending upon scope of the job and area of specialty, there are certain universal requirements that are expected of all DLA Piper employees, which include but are not limited to:
Effectively communicate, verbally and in writing, with clients, lawyers, business professionals, and…