King & Spalding's data, privacy and security team in Washington, D.C., is enjoying a growth spurt.

Last week, the group added Scott Ferber, former counsel for cyber investigations in the U.S. Justice Department's National Security Division. This week, King & Spalding poached a pair of partners, Robert Hudock and Adam Solander, from Epstein Becker & Green.

“The thing that jumped out at us was the sophistication of their cybersecurity practice,” Solander said about King & Spalding's appeal. “I think what made the decision so easy was the great people that are here.”

Hudock said King & Spalding offered the duo the opportunity to serve their clients “full life cycle,” effectively handling all stages of a client's representation through the firm's “much deeper pile of resources” compared with Epstein Becker. Solander said the opportunity at King & Spalding was simply too good to pass up.

The pair declined to discuss their clients due to the sensitive nature of their work, “Our best results are things that the media doesn't know about,” Solander said.

The pair have expertise in matters specific to the financial services realm and the health care industry, and Hudock cited work involving cybersecurity for medical devices. He noted his own hacking skills may be unmatched by any other legal practitioner, as he is (he thinks) the only lawyer to have won multiple “capture the flag” competitions at Defcon, one of the world's largest hacker conventions. Capture the flag is a hacking competition where competitors look to launch cyberattacks and defend against them.

Hudock and Solander said they expect King & Spalding's data, privacy and security team to continue to grow and add more people in the short term. They said they were bringing five of their colleagues from Epstein Becker to King & Spalding and anticipated other lateral additions would follow.

King & Spalding's Washington outpost has made several prominent hires this year, particularly former officials. Along with Ferber's arrival from NSA last week, the 2018 list includes former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, Bradford Ward from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and Russ Ryan, who formerly was senior vice president at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The American Lawyer recently profiled the Atlanta-based firm's determined growth trajectory in Washington and elsewhere over the last decade.

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