When Cybersecurity Counts, Businesses Count on this WilmerHale Partner

As a partner with WilmerHale, Heather Zachary counsels and advocates for industry-leading clients on a wide range of privacy and data-security issues—from routine matters to cutting-edge issues where the law is far from clear and the enforcement risks are high. She helps clients draft and implement privacy policies and procedures; comply with federal and state laws regulating privacy and data security; navigate complex and often conflicting foreign laws across six continents that regulate data protection and marketing; investigate, report, and remediate data breaches; prevent and respond to “deceptive” and “unfair” trade practices; exploit “big data” obtained by tracking consumers online and offline; craft information-security programs and policies for consumer data and confidential business information; comply with legal requirements for marketing; and configure transactions and new product offerings to avoid privacy and data-security pitfalls.

Heather also represents wireline telecommunications providers, wireless carriers, broadcasters, video providers, industry trade associations, and Internet service providers in FCC proceedings and appellate litigation. She counsels communications clients on their statutory and regulatory obligations and, for some time, has been their go-to attorney for a variety of high-profile issues, including net neutrality, privacy, cybersecurity; and more.

“My biggest career leap was transitioning my practice from telecommunications to privacy and cybersecurity,” said Heather. “Though I still do some of the former, the latter were (and are) huge growth areas, and they were a natural fit given my tech expertise.  In retrospect, failing to evolve would have been far riskier than leaving my comfort zone.”

Heather was selected as a leader in telecom, broadcast and satellite law in the 2012, 2013, and 2014 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers in Business, and she was recommended in the area of data protection and privacy law in the 2013 edition of The Legal 500. She regularly presents webinars and participates in panels on privacy and data-security issues.