Counsel

Sheri Porath Rockwell

Privacy and Cybersecurity
Commercial Litigation and Disputes

sheri.rockwell@sidley.com

Century City +1 310 595 9512

- Letter
- A4

SHERI PORATH ROCKWELL focuses her practice on privacy and cybersecurity law. She advises companies on privacy compliance and corporate data protection programs, including compliance with federal and state privacy laws. Sheri is a member of Sidley’s California Consumer Privacy Litigation Task Force, a dedicated group of lawyers focused on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), counseling clients on how to mitigate litigation risks. She regularly counsels businesses about compliance with the CCPA, CPRA, HIPAA, and other state and federal privacy laws. Sheri is an IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) and Europe (CIPP/E), and regularly blogs and delivers presentations regarding emerging domestic privacy law. She serves as the chair of the Privacy Law Section of the California Lawyers Association, which she helped found. In 2022, the Privacy Law Section received the “California Lawyers Association Section Innovation Award” for demonstrating a commitment to promoting excellence.

Sheri also has experience litigating a variety of complex commercial matters, including copyright, trademark and right of publicity actions, commercial class actions, complex real estate actions, and contract disputes. She has litigated in federal and state court and in arbitration and mediation settings. Additionally, Sheri has successfully negotiated with state and federal regulators to avert and settle administrative proceedings.

Some of Sheri’s recent privacy and cybersecurity engagements include:

Advising companies on CCPA and its interplay with GDPR, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA, and state data privacy laws.
Developing state data privacy compliance policies and preparedness programs.
Drafting privacy policies and data breach incident response plans.
Assisting clients with data breach and cybersecurity incidents.
Performing due diligence for mergers related to data security and privacy risks.
Evaluating employee social media platforms and compliance with FTC and other data privacy laws.

Prior to joining Sidley, Sheri served as general counsel and vice president of operations for a national affordable housing property management company. Previously, she also practiced as a litigator at a prominent entertainment and real estate law firm in Los Angeles.

After graduating, with honors, from the University of California, Berkeley, Sheri earned her J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law where she served as topic editor for the Hale Moot Court Honors Program and received the Edward and Eleanor Shattuck Award, which recognizes top students who have made outstanding contributions to public service, student programs, or general quality of life at the law school. Before beginning her practice, she clerked for U.S. District Court Judge George P. Kazen in the Southern District of Texas.

Experience

Sheri has provided privacy and cybersecurity counsel on various transactions including:

7GC & Co. Holdings Inc., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, in its US$580 million business combination with Banzai International, Inc. (transaction pending).
Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, LLC in its business combination with SPAC Jack Creek Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: JCIC), valuing Bridger at an implied US$869 million pro forma enterprise value.
DigiCert, Inc., backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., TA Associates, and Crosspoint Capital Partners L.P., in its acquisition of DNS Made Easy.
Perforce Software, Inc., a provider of solutions to enterprise teams backed by Francisco Partners and Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., in its acquisition of Puppet, an automation software platform which enables users to deliver, update, monitor, and secure software across physical and virtual machines.
Conan O’Brien, Conaverticals, Team Coco, and Middle Child in connection SiriusXM’s acquisition of the Team Coco brand.
Symplr in its purchase of healthcare supply chain management software provider GreenLight Medical, Inc.
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. in its acquisition of global edtech company Discovery Education, Inc. from Francisco Partners.
Innovative clean make-up company ILIA Inc. in its acquisition by Famille C, the Courtin-Clarins family holding company and owner of the Clarins brand.
Provation Software, a Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. portfolio company, in its sale to Fortive Corporation for US$1.425 billion.
nThrive, Inc., a leading healthcare revenue cycle management software-as-a-service platform backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., in its US$1.74 billion acquisition of TransUnion Healthcare from TransUnion.
Vegamour in connection with an US$80 million equity investment by General Atlantic.
Ivanti, Inc. in a strategic investment by Charlesbank Capital Partners, LLC, a leading private investment firm managing more than US$8 billion of capital.
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. in its acquisition of Precisely together with TA Associates.
Ivanti, Inc. in its proposed acquisition of Cherwell Software.
Athene Holding Ltd. in connection with its acquisition of Donlen Corporation from Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.
Kemper Corporation in its acquisition of American Access Casualty Company, its related captive insurance agency, Newins Insurance Agency Holdings, LLC, and its subsidiaries (collectively AAC) for US$370 million in cash.
Symplr in the acquisition of TractManager, an Arsenal Capital Partners portfolio company.
Provation, a provider of procedure documentation and clinical decision software solutions backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. in its acquisition of ePreop, a provider of perioperative SaaS solutions designed to simplify the entire surgical encounter.

Chair and Founding Member, California Lawyers Association, Privacy Law Section
Past Executive Committee Member, California Lawyers Association Antitrust, UCL and Privacy Section
Fellow, OnRamp Fellowship
Fellow, Wexner Heritage Foundation

Credentials

Admissions & Certifications

U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
U.S. District Court, N.D. of California
U.S. District Court, C.D. of California
California

Education

University of Southern California Gould School of Law, J.D., 1992 (Moot Court Honors Program)
University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1987 (with honors)

Clerkships

George P. Kazen, U.S. District Court, S.D. of Texas (1992 - 1993)