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You are viewing ARCHIVED CONTENT released online between 1 April 2010 and 24 August 2018 or content that has been selectively archived and is no longer active. Content in this archive is NOT UPDATED, and links may not function.Extract from article by Rebecca Beyer
While speaking at a conference in Texas last month, Vinson & Elkins partner Devika Kornbacher asked two in-house lawyers who specialize in privacy law whether they sit at the table when their companies participate in M&A deals.
They said no.
Kornbacher thinks privacy lawyers are poised to take on a bigger role in M&A deals, particularly during the due diligence phase, after Verizon Communications took a $350 million discount on its purchase of Yahoo based on the massive data breaches disclosed by the Internet company last year.
“Data privacy counsel, cybersecurity counsel — companies will start thinking maybe we should invite them to the table and at least think about calling in-house or even outside counsel,” Kornbacher said.
In two attacks in 2013 and 2014, more than a billion Yahoo users’ personal account info was hacked.
It may be the first time a merger price has been discounted because of a data breach, said Craig A. Newman, a global cybersecurity partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler in New York.
Read the complete article at Are Cyber Lawyers Poised to Play Bigger Role in M&A?