Gibson Dunn has hired a partner in London from Goodwin Procter to strengthen its privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation practice. 

Lore Leitner has joined the 1,900-lawyer firm after nearly three years as a partner at Goodwin, before which she practised as of counsel at Wilson Sonsini.

Joel Harrison, co-chair of Gibson Dunn’s privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation practice group, said: “A wave of new legislation is leading to unprecedented demand among our clients for top-tier advice, and Lore’s arrival is an important step in growing our global data privacy, cybersecurity and AI capability. She brings a wealth of experience in advising on data strategies and adjacent issues across a number of industry sectors, as well as engaging with regulators in the UK and the EEA to advance and defend those strategies.”

Leitner’s practice focuses on strategic counselling and advice, corporate support and incident preparedness and response, as well as regulatory engagement and investigations. She supports clients with the design and implementation of global data privacy compliance programmes, including those driven by GDPR, and she has advised companies in the context of business strategies that involve large-scale data use, regulatory investigations and engagement strategies, including mitigation of cyber intrusions or data breaches. She also brings expertise in M&A and capital markets transactions, as well as advising on privacy litigation matters.

Leitner will significantly boost Gibson Dunn’s London privacy group, which following her arrival has six partners according to the firm’s website. It includes leading practitioners such as Harrison, who specialises in tech transactions, data protection and cybersecurity, and AI practice group co-chair Robert Spano, who advises on regulatory matters in relation to EU litigation and international arbitration. Harrison and Spano are both relatively recent arrivals, having joined Gibson Dunn in 2022 from Milbank and the European Court of Human Rights respectively.

Meantime the group’s other London partners – James Cox, Patrick Doris and London office co-head Penny Madden KC – have practices that focus principally on areas including labour and employment, white-collar investigations and international arbitration.

Globally the firm’s privacy practice has more than 260 lawyers, around 230 of whom are based in the US, where the team has garnered top marks from Chambers for its work in contentious matters. The team regularly represents household-name companies in the tech sector in defending class action privacy lawsuits and acts for clients in major regulatory enforcement proceedings and investigations. 

Other partner hires for the practice over the past few years include former Apple privacy lawyer Vivek Mohan, who joined in Palo Alto in 2022 from Mayer Brown as co-chair of Gibson’s AI practice group. The same year the firm hired Apple’s chief privacy officer, Jane Horvath, in Washington DC, shortly after it recruited Stephenie Gosnell Handler in the city from McKinsey & Company, where she was director for cybersecurity strategy. 

“I am thrilled to be joining one of the world’s top firms in Gibson Dunn,” Leitner said. “Laws governing the digital world are only increasing, and I am looking forward to helping a variety of clients navigate that complexity.”

A Goodwin spokesperson commented: “We wish Lore the best.”  

Gibson Dunn’s profits per equity partner grew 13.4% to $5.6m in 2023, when a strong performance across transactions, litigation and regulatory saw the firm grow revenue 12.3% to just over $3bn. The results marked the firm’s 28th consecutive year of revenue growth.