Matthew B. Welling

Matthew B. Welling is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office and member of the Data Strategy, Security & Privacy Team and Energy Team. Mr. Welling has a deep technical background that he leverages to represent clients in a wide range of counseling and regulatory matters.

Mr. Welling's experience includes cybersecurity and privacy incident response, compliance reviews, risk assessments and the development of corporate policies and procedures such as incident response plans. He has a diverse background in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other corporate transactional issues, with specific recent experience with technology transactions, cybersecurity issues and critical infrastructure project development.

Additionally, Mr. Welling has advised numerous clients on appliance energy conservation standards before the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), including multiple appeals to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and before the California Energy Commission (CEC).

Cybersecurity and Privacy Counseling and Incident Response. Utilizing his technical background, Mr. Welling advises clients on a wide range of cybersecurity and privacy issues. He regularly counsels clients through responding to and managing cyber incidents and data breaches, and he has experience covering the full incident response life cycle. Mr. Welling has helped numerous clients develop or modernize their incident response programs and other cyber-related corporate policies and procedures across industries that include energy and critical infrastructure, finance and banking, government contractors, media, hospitality and information technology (IT) service providers. He has also led privileged investigations, conducted tabletop simulations and other training exercises, interacted with regulators and law enforcement, and counseled clients through a diverse range of cybersecurity-related disputes.

M&A and Corporate Transactions. Mr. Welling frequently represents companies in technology-focused M&A activities and has significant experience with cybersecurity and privacy-related transactional due diligence and post-merger integration matters for both buyers and sellers across a broad range of industries. His experience also includes helping clients develop novel IT due diligence programs and counseling clients through incident response and forensic investigations arising in the course of M&A activities. Mr. Welling additionally advises clients on a wide range of commercial transactions involving cybersecurity and other technology-related issues.

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Mr. Welling has extensive experience with blockchain and DLT matters. He advises clients on security and regulatory issues related to blockchain applications, helps clients navigate service provider relationships and advises clients in multiple industries on developing novel blockchain and DLT projects. Mr. Welling frequently speaks and conducts training on blockchain-related issues, both publicly and for clients.

Energy, Project Development and Appliance Conservation Standards. Mr. Welling also has considerable experience in the energy sector, representing clients in a range of issues related to regulations, transactions, policy and litigation at the state and federal levels, including matters before FERC and state regulatory commissions. He has significant experience in energy project development, and the projects he has worked on include renewable energy (wind, solar and biomass), energy storage, natural gas and coal-fired generation facilities. Mr. Welling's clients include wind and solar developers, merchant generators, integrated utilities, rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, equipment manufacturers and industrial wholesale customers. He also counsels clients on North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards.

In addition, Mr. Welling currently teaches a course on privacy law in the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute master's program and is a member of Indiana University's Cybersecurity Advisory Council.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Welling was an attorney at a global law firm in its Washington, D.C., office.

While in law school, Mr. Welling served as the managing editor of the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy. He also twice clerked for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Welling was a software developer and management consultant with a Big Four accounting firm, a global computer technology company and a global professional services firm.