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John W. Woods
Partner
Privacy and Information Management Practice

Litigation & Intellectual Property Practice

Washington
(202) 955-1513 Phone
(202) 778-2201 Fax

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Practices
Business Crimes
  Defense
Chemical Facility
  Security Regulation
eDiscovery and
  Cyber-Investigations
  Team
Internal
  Investigations
Privacy &
  Information
  Management

John W. Woods

Mr. Woods' practice focuses on conducting internal investigations, advising on information security legal issues and representing corporations in government investigations and business crimes.  He has a particular focus in advising corporations in the legal response to network security intrusions and data breaches.  He regularly counsels clients on the related topics of electronic discovery and electronic surveillance.

Relevant Experience Network Intrusion Investigations & Privacy Litigation

  • Leading investigation for money center international bank into theft of $9.4MM from ATM network after a network security breach.  Coordinating company interaction with FBI and international law enforcement, representing bank and payment card subsidiary in Federal Reserve Board, Office of Comptroller of Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Company investigation of incident. Representing payment card subsidiary in class action lawsuit. 
  • Leading internal investigation for international retail chain, coordinating interaction with US law enforcement and advising on response to FTC inquiry associated with theft of credit card data. Advised company on successful dismissal of class action complaint.
  • Advising Fortune 100 corporation in the Defense Industrial Base on legal issues associated with an advanced persistent threat to network security.
  • Leading internal investigation for oil exploration company on sophisticated network intrusion directed at reserve models and executive communications.
  • Advising international insurance entity on cooperation with law enforcement and civil liability issues associated with third party’s claimed unauthorized access to personally identifiable information.
  • Led internal investigation into largest reported credit card hacking event in retail history. Coordinated company's cooperation with law enforcement and oversaw work of over 100 network security consultants and forensic examiners.
  • Led internal investigation into theft of customer data from international hospitality company and subsequent attempt of cyber-extortion. 
  • Led investigation on behalf of Fortune 100 company over possible data theft from outsourcing vendor of employee information.
  • Led internal investigation into possible significant network intrusion and data breach for Fortune 200 financial services company. Results of investigation revealed that no customer data was either accessed or acquired by third party.

Data Security, Electronic Surveillance and Electronic Discovery Counseling

  • Advising several Fortune 500 companies on policy issues and response to cyber-security requirements of various DHS critical infrastructure projection (CIP) initiatives, including the DHS Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards.
  • Serves as national electronic discovery counsel to several Fortune 500 companies in the financial services, defense and telecommunications industries.
  • Advising Fortune 250 defense contractor on legal issues associated with participation in FISA and ECPA related activities on behalf of US government agency.
  • Counsels Fortune 500 companies on general legal issues associated with IT security, with focus on IT compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 and SEC implementing regulations.

Business Crimes Defense/Complex Civil Litigation

  • Leading internal investigation for Top Three Bank into issues associated with collapse and bankruptcy of largest non-bank originator of home mortgages and impact on a short term asset backed lending facility.
  • Representing Top Five Bank on issues associated with multiple grand jury and government investigations related to the credit crisis of Fall 2008.
  • Representing European bank in legal issues associated with Madoff-related government inquiries and class actions.
  • Advising European bank in conjunction with state attorney general inquiry into sales practices of auction rate securities.
  • Advising Fortune 250 financial institution in response to government investigation into bidding practices in the municipal derivatives market and In re Municipal Derivatives MDL proceeding.
  • Acts as coordinating counsel for major insurance intermediary in federal and state investigations into brokerage compensation practices and In re Insurance Antitrust MDL proceeding.
  • Led internal investigation and prepared response to public company auditor 10A investigation into possible "illegal acts" associated with executives' deletion of documents and emails associated with stock option pricing practices at NYSE listed company. Results of investigation led to a finding of no 10A violation by auditor.
Background
  • Associate, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, L.L.P., Washington D.C. 1999-2002
  • Associate, Sands, Anderson, Marks & Miller, P.C., Richmond, Virginia 1996-1999
  • Associate, Orr & Reno, P.A., Concord, New Hampshire 1995-1996
Membership
  • Member, Virginia, District of Columbia and New Hampshire (inactive) Bars
Education
  • J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 1995
  • B.A., Colby College, Government, 1990

Publications


2009 Contributor, "Virtual Criminology Report 2009 - Virtually Here: The Age of Cyber Warfare," McAfee, Inc.
November 2009 Co-author, "Reconciling United States Electronic Discovery with the EU Data Directive: Taking Initial Steps Towards Common Ground", Data Guidance
Chapter author, "Ediscovery and Internal Investigations," eDiscovery for Corporate Counsel (ThompsonWest Publishing 2009)



Speeches


November 2009 Invited Participant, "China's Rise and Cyberspace", Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC
November 2009 Speaker, "Cooperation between In-house & Outside Counsel in Search Strategy," Capital One Forum on Search & Retrieval Forum, McLean, VA
October 2009 Panelist, "Cybersecurity", Madison Policy Forum, New York, New York
October 2009 Keynote, "Private Entity Cooperation with Law Enforcement - Benefits and Risks," United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force Stand-up Meeting, Kansas City, Missouri
October 2009 Speaker, "The Current State of Privacy: Securing Your Workplace Through Technology," Legal Technology Exchange, Austin, Texas
August 2009 Panelist, "Anatomy of a Corporate Hack," United States Secret Service Global Cybersecurity Conference, Washington, DC
June 2009 Panelist, "Need to Know vs. Need to Share: Shared Threat Situational Awareness," 2009 Symantec Government Symposium, Washington, DC
February 2009 Keynote, "How e-Discovery is Changing the Dynamic Between Law Firms and their Corporate Clients," Legal Tech, New York, New York
October 2008 Panelist, "Enhancing Cyber Security as Part of Enterprise Risk Management Planning," United States Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC
July 2008 Speaker, "The Conflict Between US e-Discovery and the EU Data Protection Directive," New York Privacy Officers Forum, New York, New York
November 2007 Moderator, "Emerging Cyber Crime Threats," Center for Information Policy Leadership Panel, Penn Club, New York, New York
May 2007 Speaker, Corporate and Enterprise Investigations Conference, "The Legal Response to Network Intrusion Events," Las Vegas, Nevada
April 2007 Speaker, General Session, Microsoft™ CSO Executive Summit, "Crisis Management: A CSO's Guide to Responding to a Data Compromise Event," Redmond, Washington
April 2007 Panelist, "Reducing the Risk and Cost of Security Breaches," Payment Card Security for Executives and General/Outside Counsel, New York, New York
October 2006 Speaker, Aerospace Industry Association, Legal Committee, "Strategic Thinking in Ediscovery Under the Amended Federal Rules of Civil Procedure," Washington, DC
May 2006 Speaker, Corporate and Enterprise Investigations Conference, "Coordinating with Legal in Handling Data Breaches," Las Vegas, Nevada
November 2004 Speaker, IBM E-Government Institute, Computer Forensics, Washington, D.C.


John Woods