As more and more companies realize that working remotely is going to be a long-term concern, they have come to realize that data protection and security as it existed in the office doesn't necessarily exist at home. And that is a problem that needs to be addressed, both from a regulatory as well as a practical perspective. 

Washington, D.C.-founded Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, identifying that need, has added former Venable privacy and data security partner Jami Mills Vibbert as a partner in its New York office, the firm announced Wednesday. She will be working primarily out of the firm's privacy and data security and life sciences and health care regulatory practices, the firm said. 

"Jami is a well-known industry expert who will enhance our ability to advise our clients on the issues surrounding the protection of valuable data assets in a complex and rapidly changing regulatory environment," Arnold & Porter chairman Richard Alexander said in a statement.

Vibbert spent eight years at Norton Rose Fulbright before moving over to Venable in early 2017. She works with clients to produce data security assessments and handles crisis management during instances of data breach or regulatory investigations, Arnold & Porter said. 

In an interview, Vibbert said she expects most of her existing clients to make the transition with her. She would not comment on whether others from her practice area at Venable would be making the move with her. 

"I am honored to join Arnold & Porter's privacy and data security team," Vibbert said in a statement. "[I] believe that the firm's platform—including its premier life sciences and financial services practices, will allow me to provide a comprehensive offering to clients."

Vibbert's practice spans several industry verticals, but her primary stated areas of expertise are in life sciences, health care and financial services. 

Her practice area is ripe for growth. As COVID-19 has given a massive push to an already changing element of work culture, companies have gone from setting their employees up to work from home to actually managing the output—and data—that moves through them.

"When remote working was brand new, there was a big uptick in asking how to be secure in working from home and with telehealth," Vibbert said. "Now, I expect there to be an increase in breach notifications. Once something is sent to a printer or data is moved via Gmail, it is out there."  

Organizations are also looking for advice on the regulatory front, which due to COVID-19 has seen some changes that can have a significant effect on clients in the health care and life sciences arenas. 

Vibbert said she doesn't expect any more significant changes in regulation in the vein of the Office for Civil Rights relaxing restrictions around telehealth and payments, but there will be a lot of questions regardless. 

"When the return to work happens, there will be questions about what sort of health data can be shared and the safety issues that come from that," Vibbert said. "Can we track people? That will be a big issue."