(Courtesy photo)

Edward McNicholas joined Ropes & Gray in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, leaving Sidley Austin after 18 years at the firm.

McNicholas was a co-leader of Sidley's global privacy and cybersecurity practice, and he'll co-lead the data practice at Ropes & Gray.

He said he considered a small handful of firms before settling on a move to Boston-based Ropes, bit he didn't identify the others. “The practice here at Ropes is just so attractive, and that's what drew me away from Sidley,” he said.

McNicholas' practice runs the gamut of data and cybersecurity issues. He counsels clients dealing with personal information breaches, board and governmental investigations, compliance programs, and foreign privacy regulators.

Rohan Massey, co-leader of Ropes' data practice, said in a statement that McNicholas' understanding and track record of success will prove to be an asset to clients right away.

McNicholas said he expects his practice to remain similar but become broader in scope at his new firm. The data practice group's connection to the firm's corporate practice, particularly in servicing private equity clients, was important to McNicholas, he said.

Even the name of the practice group he's joining at Ropes illustrates how well the firm understands the scope of the work, he said.

“They call it the data practice here,” McNicholas said. “I love the name because it reflects that it's broader than privacy and cybersecurity.”

He said Ropes was committed to growing its 100-member data practice, but declined to comment on whether other Sidley lawyers would follow his lead there or where the group was looking to expand.

“It doesn't really matter where we sit, it matters where our clients have issues,” McNicholas said. “Being able to work seamlessly across geographies makes that easier.”

Before working at Sidley, McNicholas was associate counsel to President Bill Clinton and defended Clinton against independent counsels, the Justice Department's campaign financing task force, congressional committees, and nongovernmental investigators.

He joined the Clinton White House from Sidley Austin, where he was an associate for three years.