ALAN RAUL is the founder and leader of Sidley’s highly ranked Privacy and Cybersecurity practice. He represents companies on U.S. and international privacy, cybersecurity, and technology issues. Alan advises on global regulatory compliance, data breaches, and crisis management. Alan also focuses on issues concerning national security, constitutional, and administrative law. He handles enforcement and public policy issues involving the FTC, State Attorneys General, SEC, DOJ, FBI, DHS/CISA, the intelligence community, as well as other federal, state, and international agencies.
Alan previously served in government as Vice Chairman of the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) and continued to serve when PCLOB became an independent agency within the Executive Branch. He also served as General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget; General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Associate Counsel to the President. He maintains a national security clearance.
Alan is ranked in Chambers’ first tier of privacy and cybersecurity practitioners and has been named a BTI Super All-Star for client service in the privacy and cybersecurity field.
Alan serves as a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches a course on “Digital Governance: Privacy and Technology Trade-offs.” He is a member of the Technology Litigation Advisory Committee of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the governing Board of Directors of the Future of Privacy Forum, and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Alan has represented leading technology and internet companies whose devices, software, or users have been exploited by state-sponsored threat actors. Such events typically involve extensive coordination with U.S. and international law enforcement, cybersecurity and regulatory agencies, and intelligence services. Cyber crises often involve managing various legal, regulatory, B2B, and consumer risks as well as offering advice regarding a broad range of corporate communications and public messaging. Alan represented Yahoo!’s Board of Directors, Special Cybersecurity Committee, in connection with its independent investigation of the company’s handling of the two largest data breaches ever reported. Alan represented AT&T in In the Matter of a Warrant to Search Certain E-mail Account Controlled and Maintained by Microsoft Corporation. And, invoking “the interest of justice,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson appointed Alan as pro bono counsel to represent the privacy rights of federal jurors in connection with a high profile criminal litigation, In re: Juror Questionnaires in United States v. Stone. The following representative types of matters are also illustrative of the breadth of Alan’s practice:
- FTC, State Attorney, General and international DPA investigations involving consumer protection, privacy, data security, and unfair or deceptive business practices
- Digital Governance counseling
- Privacy and cybersecurity litigation, data breach incidents, regulatory investigations, and compliance counseling
- International data protection compliance programs and cross-border transfers
- SEC, DOJ, Congressional, and Inspector General investigations
- Cybersecurity, government information requests, and national security issues
- Internet and technology litigation and counseling, and government information requests, under Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
- Administrative Procedure Act litigation, regulatory advocacy and counseling
In addition to his top Chambers and BTI rankings, Alan has been named as a leading international Internet and E-Commerce Lawyer in Who’s Who Legal, and Ethisphere Institute’s “Attorneys Who Matter” in Data Privacy/Security, which recognizes lawyers with the highest commitment to public service, legal community engagement, and academic involvement. The Washingtonian has named Alan one of Washington, D.C.’s Best Lawyers: Cybersecurity, and the National Law Journal named him a “Cyber Security Trailblazer.”
Alan is a founding member of Checks and Balances, a group of conservative lawyers dedicated to speaking up in defense of the rule of law regardless of the party or persons in power.
In 1990, Alan co-founded the “Lawyers Have Heart” 10K run and walk, to benefit the American Heart Association. He continues his active involvement with the event.