Richard Hall is a Partner in Mullen Coughlin’s London office. Richard is a seasoned cybersecurity and data protection lawyer, primarily practicing in the Firm’s Incident Response practice group, serving as lead Breach Counsel for organizations across the globe who are in the midst of, or have already suffered, a data privacy and security incident. With over a decade of legal experience, primarily focused on contentious legal matters, including data privacy and security incident response, Richard brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in data privacy and information security landscape in the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU).

As Breach Counsel, Richard works closely with, and provides skillful legal and strategic advice to organizations who have been subjected to data privacy and security incidents (including ransomware attacks, business email compromises and/or other unauthorized network intrusions). He effectively and efficiently guides his clients through the incident response process with clear and practical advice, whilst communicating with all stakeholders as necessary (including cyber insurance claim teams, law enforcement, and regulatory bodies). Importantly, his experience handling wide-scale and business halting data privacy and security incidents, allows him to proactively consider the legal, reputational, financial and operational aspects of each incident, and proactively assist his clients in mitigating potentially adverse effects on the organization.

Richard is also adept at responding to inquiries, follow-ups and investigations regarding data privacy and security incidents from governmental and industry-related regulatory bodies, specifically from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). He is well-versed in the regulatory process and has successfully defended numerous organizations under investigation and/or subject to enforcement action.

Whilst Richard is typically industry-agnostic in his counsel and representation, he has significant experience responding to incidents on behalf of organizations in the technology, financial services and manufacturing and distribution industry sectors.

Prior to joining Mullen Coughlin, Richard was a Legal Director for a global law firm based in London. There, he managed the response to numerous data privacy and security incidents  across multiple jurisdictions and advised clients on their legal obligations related to data privacy and information security pursuant to domestic and international data privacy and information security laws and regulations.

Richard is also published author in data protection compliance, co-authoring Data Protection & Compliance: Second Edition, published by BCS – The Chartered Institute of IT.

In addition to his Bachelor of Laws from Swansea University, Richard holds two quality standard accreditations for litigation from the Law Society – awarded to solicitors who demonstrate a high level of knowledge, skill and experience. He also holds a GIAC “Security Essentials Certification” demonstrating his commitment to, and knowledge of, information security.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Successfully defended a global communications company in regulatory enforcement proceedings brought by the ICO for alleged contraventions of direct marketing rules
• Successfully defended, with no penalties imposed, a financial institution under investigation by the ICO for alleged breaches of data protection law
• Successfully prevented the imposition of an ICO Enforcement Notice after defending a large data broker against a proposed enforcement action by the ICO
• Advised an international technology company on its strategy and response to regulatory investigations across multiple jurisdictions relating to alleged data breaches and non-compliance data processing
• Responded to, and managed, the investigation of a ransomware incident on behalf of an international manufacturing business, including with the forensic investigation, reporting obligations and law enforcement and regulator engagement
• Managed an international, large-scale personal data breach on behalf of a large financial institution involving multiple reporting requirements and post-incident engagement with industry-related regulators
• Advised an international manufacturer following a ransomware incident involving major business disruption and a large breach of sensitive data
• Advised multiple businesses on the applicability of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on data privacy and security incidents outside of the EU and/or UK

PUBLICATIONS

• “Data Protection and Compliance: Second Edition,” Co-Author, BCS – The Chartered Institute of IT