Emilio Cividanes concentrates his practice on helping companies meet their privacy obligations in a competitive and global marketplace, and shape the data protection laws and regulations that govern their activities. His practice centers on counseling clients in various industries, including marketing, entertainment, electronic publishing, telecommunications, retail, health care, pharmaceutical, financial services, and hospitality, on how to address privacy challenges to their product development, sales, and other business operations.
Significant Matters
In servicing his clients, which range from Fortune 100 companies to start-ups, Mr. Cividanes has:
Counseled clients on how to minimize the risk of personal data security breaches and mitigate the risks when they occur;
Lobbied Congress and federal agencies, and participated in the drafting of virtually every federal privacy regulation implemented during the past ten years;
Advised companies on how to structure their business models, employment practices, and corporate acquisitions to reduce the burden of complying with privacy regulations;
Performed audits of companies’ practices to help management or potential acquirers assess the companies’ compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and self-regulatory programs;
Counseled Internet and telecommunications service providers, and cable TV operators, on compliance with federal and state wiretap laws;
Advised domestic companies with operations abroad on compliance with requirements for the transfer of personal data from Europe to the United States;
Drafted privacy policies that meet regulatory or self-regulatory requirements;
Assisted trade associations and other business groups to develop self-regulatory standards, including compliance questionnaires, and privacy policy generators or wizards;
Advised private companies involved in government contracts on compliance with the Privacy Act; and
Counseled clients on privacy issues arising from contracts and transactional negotiations.
Mr. Cividanes has also:
Defended clients that are the targets of class action suits alleging violations of privacy laws;
Represented clients in "crisis mode" because of unwanted scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, the Congress, or the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus; and
Challenged privacy regulations in court and filed "friend of the court" briefs in landmark cases.
Activities
Mr. Cividanes has taught information privacy law as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and served as counsel to the Technology and the Law Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Mr. Cividanes is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and a member of the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia.
