Kayleigh Watson is an Associate at Mullen Coughlin and concentrates her practice on counseling organizations of all sizes and from every industry sector in first-party incident response and third-party privacy defense legal services. Kayleigh represents businesses and non-profit organizations across a variety of industry sectors in data privacy class action cases filed in federal and state courts across the United States. When an organization faces a class action following a data privacy action, Kayleigh counsels them and works to find creative solutions that best serve the organization’s interest – whether through early resolution, strategic motion practice or continued litigation. She also counsel organizations that are facing third-party demands and claims and litigation arising from wire transfer fraud.

Kayleigh has nearly a decade of experience handling complex and diverse litigation, defending organizations at all levels in both federal and state courts. She is licensed to practice in Texas and Oklahoma, and has practiced pro hac vice in numerous jurisdictions where Firm clients seek trial preparation. Her experience of handling complex litigation, including single-plaintiff and class action litigation stemming from data privacy and security incidents, has prepared her to successfully litigate matters within the designated timeframe and budget, oftentimes providing innovative legal strategies to negotiate disputes with minimal disruption to the organization’s business and reputation.

Kayleigh has experience with organizations across multiple industry groups, including healthcare and life sciences; financial services; retail/e-Commerce; hospitality and entertainment; education; non-profit; and professional services. She has represented these types of organizations in responding to formal follow-up inquiries by regulators, including state Attorneys Generals; state insurance and health departments; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (HHS-OCR).

Prior to joining Mullen Coughlin, Kayleigh practiced insurance defense litigation at a national law firm based in Dallas. There, she gained valuable experience working with expert witnesses; handling investigation and discovery; and preparing for, and engaging in, contested motion practice, oral argument, mediation, arbitration and trial defending organizations, in which she brings with her in both her incident response and privacy litigation practices.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & PRESENTATIONS

• “Stop! Investigate and Litigate,” Dallas Bar Association, Dallas, TX, January 27, 2025
• “Data Privacy Update and Enforcement Trends,” Dallas Bar Association, Virtual, January 22, 2024
• “Responding to a Cyber Incident,” Dallas Bar Association, Dallas, TX, April 24, 2023

PUBLICATIONS

• “An Analysis of Standing in Texas Data Breach Class Actions,” Dallas Bar Association Headnotes, January 2025 (PDF)

AWARDS & HONORS

• Texas SuperLawyers “Rising Star” (2023)