Holland & Knight has named New York partner Mark Melodia the new head of its data strategy security and privacy team after losing the two leaders of the practice to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips last week.

Melodia, who joined Holland & Knight from Reed Smith in September 2018, takes over from former co-chairs Scott Lashway, who left to launch Manatt's new Boston office and take a leadership role in that firm's cybersecurity practice, and Kaylee Bankston, who is now counsel at Manatt. Another associate also joined Manatt from Holland & Knight in Boston.

Melodia was the co-leader of Reed Smith's intellectual property, technology and data practice and also founded that firm's information technology, privacy and data security group.

His practice focuses on defending businesses from putative class actions and other “bet-the-company” lawsuits over data breaches and other alleged consumer privacy violations, with 85 such class actions under his belt.

In one recent victory, Melodia helped The Coca-Cola Co. defeat a former worker's data breach suit in the Third Circuit, and he's currently defending Sony Corp. against violations of federal privacy laws in New Jersey. He's also had the lead role in several multidistrict litigations, including cases against LendingTree LLC and Bank of America.

He also represents clients responding to government privacy investigations before the Federal Trade Commission, the Office for Civil Rights, state attorneys general and the Department of Justice.

Melodia said that one of the fastest growing parts of his practice and the firm's work is advising boards of directors on data risks.

“Data is the primary asset class of the 21st century,” he said. “Being strategic about opportunities and risks associate with that data: we find that core to what our clients are and what they want to be.”

Melodia emphasized that he has built a team of technologically savvy attorneys, some of whom are trained as computer scientists or are certified ethical hackers. He himself boasts none of those credentials, having written his undergraduate senior thesis on privacy on the original Macintosh computer.

That's allowed him to witness the transformation of privacy from an issue that once only mattered to criminal attorneys handling Fourth Amendment issues to a crucial matter for corporations and their counsel.

“I've seen that change. I've lived that change,” he said. “I appreciate our traditional clients not being digital natives and needing to learn it, but at the same time I've surrounded myself with digital natives who live and breath it and have done so since grade school.”

Holland & Knight managing partner Steven Sonberg, who appointed Melodia to the new role, called him one of the most “highly regarded data security and privacy lawyers in the country.”

“I am confident that under his leadership our Data Strategy, Security & Privacy Team will realize even greater success,” Sonberg said in a statement.

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