Holland & Knight Further Expands National Data Privacy Team with Addition of Elizabeth "Bess" Hinson
ATLANTA (August 16, 2021) – Data privacy attorney Elizabeth "Bess" Hinson has joined Holland & Knight's Atlanta office as a partner. She will be a member of the firm's Data Strategy, Security & Privacy Team. Ms. Hinson was previously chair of the Cybersecurity & Privacy Practice at Morris, Manning & Martin LLP.
"Bess is the latest addition to our national Data Strategy, Security & Privacy practice, whose hiring, along with recent hires Hilary Lane in Tampa, Rachel Marmor in Boston and Shardul Desai in Washington, D.C., all demonstrate the firm's latest and continued commitment to building strength upon strength in this critical practice area across our national footprint," said Christopher G. Kelly, leader of Holland & Knight's Litigation Section. "Bess' creativity, experience and intellectual strength are natural fits with dozens of Holland & Knight's clients, who we're confident will quickly find her advice and counsel indispensable."
"Bess has become a star in the Atlanta legal market in a very short period of time," said Mark Melodia, leader of Holland & Knight's Data Strategy, Security & Privacy Team. "Her impressive portfolio of clients and ingenuity will continue to distinguish her within our data privacy team and the firm."
"Bess has tremendous connections in the Atlanta business community, including the technology sector," said Woody Vaughan, executive partner of Holland & Knight's Atlanta office. "She fits very well into our growth strategy in Atlanta."
Ms. Hinson focuses her practice on cyber and data risk management and governance, breach preparedness and response, crisis management and global data privacy compliance. She represents clients at all stages of incident response, including investigation, notification, remediation, managing privacy class action risks, defense of litigation and regulatory inquiry. She regularly counsels clients on cross-border data flows and navigating conflicts between foreign privacy laws and U.S. compliance obligations.
"My time at MM&M was incredibly gratifying, and I'm grateful for the support they provided as I built a first-class privacy practice," said Ms. Hinson. "However, privacy and security legal issues are changing so fast, and the stakes are now so high, that it is difficult to serve as a general outside counsel for clients, even emerging growth clients, without a bigger team around you. Holland & Knight's growth profile, industry experience and deep investment in a nationwide data privacy practice were very appealing to me."
Ms. Hinson is the founder of the Atlanta Women in Cybersecurity Roundtable and is a member of the Technology Association of Georgia's Corporate Development Society board of directors. She was recognized by the Daily Report with the On the Rise award in 2020 and was named a Georgia Trailblazer in 2019.
Ms. Hinson earned a B.A. degree from Yale College, an M.St. degree from the University of Oxford and a J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School.