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About Kathleen
Kathleen draws on years of government experience advising members of Congress, representing the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuting white-collar crime to counsel corporate entities on issues relating to data privacy and protection, risk management, and compliance with data privacy and federal criminal laws. She is a member of the firm’s commercial litigation team ranked in Chambers in 2023.
Kathleen served as counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence—the committee responsible for oversight of the United States intelligence community. In this capacity, with a Top Secret security clearance, she provided legal and policy advice to members of Congress on a wide range of national security matters. Kathleen drafted federal legislation and committee reports on issues including foreign intelligence surveillance, cybersecurity information sharing, and interrogation and detention, and was involved in numerous Committee reviews and investigations, including investigations relating to the Benghazi terrorist attacks, Guantanamo Bay detainees, and interrogation and detention authorities.
In addition to this experience advising members of Congress, Kathleen served as an Assistant General Counsel to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In this position, she oversaw legal aspects of the FBI’s counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cyber undercover operations. Kathleen also was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, prosecuting a variety of federal offenses and serving as the Computer Crimes/Child Pornography Coordinator. She tried more than ten jury trials, argued multiple appeals before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and supervised numerous Title III wiretaps.
Prior to joining SouthBank Legal, Kathleen practiced at an Am Law 100 firm where her clients included Fortune 500 companies across different industries. She has given numerous presentations to trade and industry groups and written articles regarding data privacy issues and compliance.
Kathleen is an adjunct professor at Notre Dame Law School, teaching courses on data privacy and protection and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Experience
In previous matters, Kathleen has:
- Assisted a global medical implant company through the due diligence process by identifying and assessing national and international risks related to the seller company’s use of patient information.
- Supervised investigation by third-party resources and coordinated with various state attorneys general to fulfill reporting obligations on behalf of national fraternity headquarters that had experienced an employee-related compromise of fraternity and membership information.
- Supervised internal investigation for a global medical device manufacturer involving unauthorized access to protected health information and proprietary information, and provided advice on compliance with applicable laws and contractual obligations.
- Oversaw conduct of in-depth third-party security and privacy audit on behalf of global multi-sector corporation in order to assess state, federal, and international compliance risks.
- Led the investigation and response into a third-party compromise of protected health information involving regional health care provider, including coordinating documentary response to and negotiations with Indiana Attorney General to resolve potential litigation.
- Counseled international life insurance company on range of matters involving compliance with international, federal, and state privacy laws and policy development.
- Counseled organizations experiencing possible data privacy compromises in order to satisfy reporting obligations, comply with legal and contractual requirements involving affected individuals, and resolve potential regulatory enforcement actions.
- Counseled clients, including by drafting policies and procedures, with respect to compliance with federal, state, and international data privacy laws and federal criminal laws.
Education
- Notre Dame Law School, J.D.
- First Place Oral Argument, Moot Court
- American Jurisprudence Award, Jurisprudence
- University of Notre Dame, B.A.
- Varsity Cross Country
Admissions
- Indiana