Michael Waters is an experienced litigator. He handled one of the first data breach matters shortly after California passed its breach notification law in 2003 and has become one of the country’s leading data breach attorneys. He has counseled thousands of clients across industries through nearly every conceivable type of breach, from system-wide network intrusions and ransomware attacks to situations involving cyber extortion, stolen laptops and computer hardware, ATM skimmers, email compromises, wire fraud and employee wrongdoing.

Michael has represented hundreds of companies in investigations opened by enforcement agencies post-breach, including investigations by State Attorneys General, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, the Federal Trade Commission, and state and federal financial, insurance and education enforcement agencies. Michael also regularly oversees privacy litigation and represents organizations in financial and other disputes arising out of data security incidents, as well as actions in which parties are seeking to recover losses in connection with wire fraud schemes.

He also assists clients in managing the privacy risks associated with maintaining and transferring information. This includes counseling clients on statutory and contractual data protection requirements, drafting privacy related policies and procedures, GDPR counseling, CCPA and other state privacy law compliance, and providing board counseling and employee training.