& Compliance
Investigation
& Management
Mullen Coughlin LLC is a law firm dedicated exclusively to representing organizations facing data privacy events, information security incidents, and the need to address these risks before a crisis hits. Founded by John Mullen, Jennifer Coughlin, Jim Prendergast, and Chris DiIenno, our team of accessible and motivated attorneys have handled thousands of events and possess experience and talent in data breach response, regulatory investigation defense, pre-breach planning and compliance, and privacy and security litigation defense unmatched in the industry.
Mullen Coughlin is proud to support and participate in NetDiligence’s Cyber Risk Summit held in Philadelphia October 5-7, 2026. Carolyn Purwin Ryan, Chair of the Litigation practice group, serves as a Conference Co-Chair alongside cyber industry professionals, assisting with the identification, development, and implementation of Conference workshop and panel discussion topics and speakers.
Carolyn also joins the Breakout session, “Breach Wars: Plaintiff’s Strike Back,” on Tuesday, October 6 alongside cyber insurance and cyber litigation professionals. As data breach litigation continues to evolve, plaintiff attorneys are also evolving by developing new theories of harm and leveraging forensic evidence to support increasingly sophisticated claims. Carolyn and the panel use their collective experience to examine how these cases are built, share strategies for investigating and defending such claims, and discuss the ongoing legal debates around standing, damages, and liability.
Carolyn and Mullen Coughlin look forward to seeing friends, partners, and colleagues in Philadelphia this October. Learn more about the Philadelphia Cyber Risk Summit here.
Rounding out the summer, Mullen Coughlin welcomed one (1) new Associate to the Firm – Mitchell Slifka – in our Advisory Compliance practice group.
Mitch focuses his practice on counseling organizations from all industry sectors with proactive and pre-incident data privacy and information security compliance across U.S. federal, state, and local regulatory regimes. He is also a former Law Clerk with Mullen Coughlin, where he assisted with preparing and developing tabletop exercises and analyzing legislation and regulations relevant to data privacy and protection, AI, and incident response planning.
In addition to his J.D., Mitch also holds an LL.M in Banking and Financial Law and an MBA. He is licensed to practice in Kentucky.
Mullen Coughlin Partner Chris DiIenno joins the faculty of PLUS’s 2026 Cyber University held virtually on Thursday, September 17. Chris presents the session “Breach Scenario – Surviving a Cybersecurity Incident” alongside Mark Sadler of Great American Insurance Group and Evgueni Erchov of CYPFER.
This session, designed for entry-level professional liability practitioners, walks attendees through a hypothetical data breach scenario. Chris, using his and Mullen Coughlin’s collective Breach Counsel experience, provides an overview of the Incident Response (IR) process beginning with identifying the incident and engaging appropriate IR stakeholders through resolution, notification, and post-incident follow-up and inquires.
PLUS University is held virtually September 15-17. Learn more here.