Natasha Kohne > Akin > San Francisco, United States > Lawyer Profile

San Francisco-based Natasha Kohne and Dallas-stationed Michelle Reed, co-heads of Akin’s data privacy team, advise clients from a range of industries, including retailers, data brokers, healthcare services, energy companies and private equity firms, on the full range of cyber law and data privacy mandates.  The pair have expertise in dealing with class action litigations, regulatory actions, law enforcement enquiries and incident response preparations. Kohne is also a key contact for global mandates, working on high profile cybersecurity projects in the Middle East. Jo-Ellyn Sakowitz Klein, in Washington DC, is the firm’s specialist on healthcare and life sciences data-related matters involving HIPAA and HITECH regulations. The team frequently provides federal policy advice to large defense contracts and global companies for the development of privacy issues. A cross-disciplinary approach with the litigation, white-collar, international trade and public law and policy teams is a key feature of the team.

Akin excels in guiding clients through complex sanctions and compliance restrictions, seeing an influx of mandates arising from the Russian-Ukraine conflict. Leveraging its substantial US footprint, the team handles sensitive internal investigations that centre on fraud, accounting regularities, sanctions and export controls violations, money laundering, and compliance with regulatory bodies including the DCPA and FDA. Mac Fadlallah is one of ‘the strongest advisers on sanctions and export controls in the UAE and the region’, and is an expert on US laws and how they apply outside of the country, focusing on global corporate investigations with international sanctions, export controls and anticorruption issues. Natasha Kohne has a substantial data protection, cybersecurity and privacy practice and frequently handles cross-border investigations. Recently promoted partner Lauren Talerman is particularly well-regarded for her work defending Middle Eastern clients in disputes against US governmental agencies. Counsel Jean-Pierre Denour is noted for his ‘excellent commercial sense’ and advice on economic sanctions and export controls.