Maneesha Mithal Joins Wilson Sonsini’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice

Mithal Joins the Firm’s Washington, D.C., Office After Having Led the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the Federal Trade Commission

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Maneesha Mithal has joined the firm’s privacy and cybersecurity practice as a partner in the Washington, D.C., office. Mithal most recently served as the associate director of the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Mithal has been instrumental in developing the U.S. approach to privacy and cybersecurity. For over 10 years, she supervised a 40-person legal team at the FTC charged with privacy and cybersecurity law enforcement and policy development, focusing on emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, facial recognition, biometrics, and connected cars, as well as health privacy, children’s privacy, ransomware, and the intersection of privacy and competition. In addition, Mithal worked with congressional staff on federal privacy legislation, with state attorney general offices on joint investigations, and with other federal and international agencies on a variety of initiatives. She also led the negotiation of numerous privacy and data security settlements and managed the first litigated FTC decisions on cybersecurity.

Earlier in her career, as a manager with the FTC’s International Consumer Protection Division, Mithal worked on European privacy issues and served as a U.S. delegate to the privacy committees of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

“Maneesha is well known in the U.S. and internationally for her privacy and cybersecurity expertise and leadership, both of which she demonstrated throughout the course of her career at the FTC,” said Doug Clark, managing partner at Wilson Sonsini. “Her perspectives on privacy law, enforcement, and policy issues will be of significant value to our firm’s technology and life sciences clients, as will her insight into rapidly developing areas, especially those driven by the use of data and intelligence. We are pleased to welcome her to the firm.”

In joining Wilson Sonsini, Mithal will have the opportunity to work closely with three of the firm’s other privacy and cybersecurity partners who worked with her during their time at the FTC: Lydia Parnes, co-leader of the privacy and cybersecurity practice and a former director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) at the FTC; Chris Olsen, a former deputy director of BCP and former assistant director of the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the FTC; and Tracy Shapiro, who spent six years as an attorney at the FTC in BCP’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection and Division of Advertising Practices.

“I am thrilled to join Wilson Sonsini, with its world-class privacy practice, roster of impressive clients doing innovative, cutting-edge work, and demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion issues,” said Mithal.

Mithal previously served as chief of staff and senior counsel in BCP from 2006 to 2009, and in various roles in BCP’s international division from 1999 to 2006, including as acting head of the office. She began her legal career as a litigator at Covington & Burling from 1995 to 1999.

Mithal earned her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995, and received her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University in 1992.

About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

For more than 60 years, Wilson Sonsini’s services and legal disciplines have focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leading provider to growing and established clients seeking legal counsel to complete sophisticated corporate and technology transactions; manage governance and enterprise-scale matters; assist with intellectual property development, protection, and IP-driven transactions; represent them in contested disputes; and/or advise them on antitrust or other regulatory matters. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.

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