Kevin Powers brings extensive policy and legal expertise to firm’s expanding privacy and data security practice
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a multidisciplinary, integrated professional services firm, announced today that Kevin Powers has joined as a Senior Cybersecurity Advisor in its Boston office. Leveraging more than two decades of experience guiding private and government entities through the full gamut of cybersecurity risk, Powers serves as Founding Director of Boston College’s Cybersecurity Policy and Governance Program.
“Kevin is renowned for his sophisticated expertise on data privacy and cybersecurity issues across virtually all corners of policy and law,” said Donna L. Wilson, CEO and Managing Partner of Manatt. “His pre-eminent reputation both in the region and across the country makes him an excellent fit for our growing Boston office as well as our broader hybridized legal and advisory model.”
Powers’ arrival closely follows a number of strategic hires across the firm’s privacy and data security practice. Manatt’s Boston office was launched last summer through the arrival of Scott T. Lashway, who co-leads the practice with Wilson. Ingrid Beierly joined as a senior advisor after over a decade as a global forensic and cyberintelligence business leader with a major credit card company, and has extensive experience leading successful efforts to protect organizations from ransomware attacks and mitigate global payment risk and cybersecurity data compromises for impacted entities. Other team members include disputes partner Christopher A. Lisy, counsel Kaylee Cox Bankston, special counsel Matthew M.K. Stein, and associates Mara O’Malley and Katherine Bravo.
“Kevin’s blend of proactive advisory work on behalf of private and government entities addressing cybersecurity risk, assessments, and strategies, and his leadership in academia adds further depth to our robust and leading offerings to clients having to address data security and privacy,” said Lashway. “He will be a tremendous asset to our clients and to our team, and he complements our team’s already remarkably deep expertise in confronting our clients’ most sophisticated security risks.”
Powers’ experience outside of academia includes working as general counsel for leading software organizations and as a legal advisor to the convening authority at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Military Commissions. He also served as deputy general counsel and adjunct faculty member at the United States Naval Academy.
“Manatt’s reputation in the cybersecurity space and blended approach of providing both legal and consulting services to clients were key factors in my decision to join the firm,” said Powers. “I’m thrilled to join such a dynamic and forward-thinking team, as well as leverage the insights from my time in academia to bring a fresh perspective to the group.”
Powers received his bachelor’s degree from Salem State College, summa cum laude, and his juris doctorate from Suffolk University Law School, magna cum laude.