Gibson Dunn and Squire Patton Boggs lead legal line-up as UK firm takes dual role on Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal
Gunnercooke advises Cambridge Analytica and its parent company amid political campaigning and data harvesting controversy
March 27, 2018 at 10:26 AM
5 minute read
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Squire Patton Boggs and UK firm Gunnercooke are among a growing line-up of legal advisers involved in the scandal engulfing Cambridge Analytica, the under-fire political consulting firm facing intense scrutiny over Facebook data harvesting.
The London-based firm, which last week suspended CEO Alexander Nix (pictured) after he was caught on film by Channel 4 News discussing unscrupulous political campaigning tactics, is being advised by both US firm Squire Patton Boggs and 'new model' UK law firm Gunnercooke, which was founded in 2010.
Facebook, meanwhile, has brought in Gibson Dunn for advice on the scandal, which broke earlier this month when ex-Cambridge Analytica employee Christopher Wylie revealed that personal information about tens of millions of Facebook users had been harvested via a personality quiz app and shared with Cambridge Analytica without proper authorisation.
Gibson Dunn litigator Orin Snyder is taking a lead role for his firm, which has longstanding ties to Facebook. The US law firm advised on its 2011 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over its handling of user data, with a team including partner Ashlie Beringer, who is now deputy general counsel at Facebook.
Gunnercooke litigation partners David Herbert and Fergus Buckley are advising Cambridge Analytica on efforts to confirm the deletion of the Facebook data trove, which was used by Cambridge Analytica to assist Donald Trump's US presidential election campaign.
A Gunnercooke spokesperson confirmed to Legal Week that Cambridge Analytica and Facebook are longstanding clients of Buckley, who joined the firm in 2016 from Fladgate, and that in recent years he has worked with Facebook to "address its concerns about the possible misuse of data". Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that Cambridge Analytica has agreed to a forensic audit to confirm it has deleted all "improperly acquired" data.
The Gunnercooke spokesperson added that the firm is also advising Cambridge Analytica and its parent company, SCL Group, in relation to "various breaches of legal undertakings" given to SCL by Wylie, as well as working to address allegations made by media organisations including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Observer and Channel 4 News.
Squire Patton Boggs is advising Cambridge Analytica on the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) investigation into its use of data, as well as allegations made against the company by various news outlets.
London litigation director Tim Lowles is understood to have acted for the company last year in relation to stories published by The Observer which linked the company to Brexit campaign group Leave.EU, although the firm has not responded to requests for comment.
The focus of the scandal has returned to Brexit in recent days, with The Guardian publishing new allegations of Cambridge Analytica's connections to the Vote Leave campaign, based on claims by former Brexit campaigner Shahmir Sanni. Tamsin Allen, head of media and information law at London firm Bindmans, is advising both Sanni and Wylie.
On Friday (23 March), the ICO obtained a warrant to search Cambridge Analytica's London offices, with Ben Summers of Three Raymond Buildings putting forward the ICO's case.
Before the warrant was granted, Damian Collins MP, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee investigating the scandal, tweeted that lawyers acting on behalf of Facebook had been in the offices of Cambridge Analytica "until they were told to stand down by the Information Commissioner".
In a related development, Cambridge Analytica is also facing a High Court lawsuit from US professor David Carroll, who is claiming to get his data back from Cambridge Analytica.
He is being represented by privacy and data partner Ravi Naik of London criminal defence firm ITN Solicitors, alongside Dinah Rose QC of Blackstone Chambers, Ben Jaffey QC of Blackstone Chambers and Julianne Kerr Morrison and Nikolaus Grubeck of Monckton Chambers.
Cambridge Analytica, which suspended Nix last week after Channel 4 News aired undercover footage of him discussing the company's use of bribes, ex-spies and sex workers, has appointed Julian Malins QC of Malins Chambers to lead an independent investigation into Nix's comments, which the company has said "do not represent the values or operations of the firm".
Other firms connected to Cambridge Analytica in the past include US law firm Bracewell, which in 2014 advised Nix and the company's founders, Steve Bannon and Robert Mercer, that as a foreign national, Nix would have to recuse himself "from substantive management" of any clients involved in US elections.
The firm's role was revealed in a memo – tweeted by Wylie – which was authored by Bracewell partner Lawrence Levy, who has since followed former name partner and ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani to Greenberg Traurig.
Photo credit: Sam Barnes/Web Summit via Sportsfile
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
HSF Hires Trio for Luxembourg Launch, Builds Private Capital Practice
To Thrive in Central and Eastern Europe, Law Firms Need to 'Know the Rules of the Game'
7 minute read
What About the Old Partners Who Have No Interest in AI?
Netflix Offices Raided by Authorities in Paris and Amsterdam
Trending Stories
- 1Judge Denies Sean Combs Third Bail Bid, Citing Community Safety
- 2Republican FTC Commissioner: 'The Time for Rulemaking by the Biden-Harris FTC Is Over'
- 3NY Appellate Panel Cites Student's Disciplinary History While Sending Negligence Claim Against School District to Trial
- 4A Meta DIG and Its Nvidia Implications
- 5Deception or Coercion? California Supreme Court Grants Review in Jailhouse Confession Case
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
