Lawyers for former Uber security chief Joe Sullivan urged three Ninth Circuit judges on Tuesday to overturn his conviction for covering up a 2016 data breach, or at the very least grant him a new trial.

"This case is an unprecedented attempt to hold an individual criminally liable for the way a company handled and reported a cybersecurity incident," Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe partner Chris Cariello told the three-judge panel, arguing that the jury was not properly instructed on two key aspects of law that his defense says undermines the government's theory of Sullivan's guilt.