(Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

A year after Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe took on a group of cybersecurity and data lawyers from Ropes & Gray to open a Boston office, the firm is expanding its privacy offerings again, this time with a San Francisco hire and a global focus.

Shannon Yavorsky, a partner with special expertise in European privacy laws, joins from Venable. Licensed to practice in California, England and Wales, and Ireland, she has also practiced at Kirkland & Ellis and Squire Patton Boggs.

Yavorsky emphasized her background counseling clients on the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, as well as evolving U.S. regulations such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, and she noted that more states are considering laws similar to the GDPR.

"Being an English and Irish attorney in California has put me in a great position to advise on GDPR, as well as the growing complexity of privacy law in the U.S.," she said.

Shannon Yavorsky of Orrick.

Yavorsky declined to name her clients and said conversations about whether they would move with her to Orrick were ongoing. She has experience advising companies on technology transactions in the technology, health care, advertising and automotive industries.

Heather Sussman, co-leader of Orrick's cyber and privacy advisory practice and one of the attorneys who left Ropes & Gray last year, said Yavorsky's global experience will meet the increased demand in the privacy space from clients around the world.

"[Yavorsky] is well-positioned to provide innovative solutions to address CCPA issues in California, as well as new regulations expected to emerge in other states, while also providing invaluable insights into GDPR's far-reaching impact on the companies we represent," Sussman said in a statement. "That will make her a fantastic complement to [Keily Blair and James Lloyd] in Europe."

Yavorsky said that as the regulatory framework related to privacy expands globally, it's key for organizations to have scalable privacy programs, so when new laws come online, the companies can mitigate risk. She says her new team is well-equipped to tackle all of these issues in the space.

"I'm so thrilled at this opportunity to work at Orrick, which as a deep bench," she said. "I hope to be able to leverage my international background and expertise to help grow and support the team."