Polsinelli has added data privacy and tech transactions partner Laila Paszti from Kirkland & Ellis in San Francisco as the firm looks to expand its offering in the sector.

Paszti joined the firm Nov. 5 following nearly three years as a partner at Kirkland.

“I worked in tech transactions for almost 14 years, and [for] about 10 of those, you know, I supported deals in the West Coast, and, in the course of that, I've had the opportunity to sit alongside or across from Polsinelli,” Paszti told The Recorder. “They have an extremely strong bench strength in their regulatory practices, including health and finance. And that was part of the reason that drew me to them, because the technology issues in those heavily regulated areas are particularly interesting to me.”

Before becoming an attorney, Paszti had a background developing “responsible [artificial intelligence] systems” and said she uses that expertise to her advantage in her legal career.

“I find that clients look to me to draw on that technical bench strength to advise them on not just the legal issues, but the intersection of the legal issues with the technology and business aspects of their initiatives,” Paszti said. She added that “being able to translate the technical issues for our clients to the extent that they intersect with legal issues is something that’s very much appreciated by our clients.”

The firm has hired extensively in the last year, poaching 47 lawyers from Holland & Knight this past summer, including six in Los Angeles. Polsinelli has added more than 10 partners from varying firms in the last two months. Despite the year being “a bit lighter,” according to firm CEO Chase Simmons, the Kansas City-based firm increased its profits by 13% and reached $856 million in revenue at the end of its 2023 fiscal year.

Polsinelli’s technology transactions and data privacy practice chair Greg Kratofil said the firm is actively growing the practice area and added that it “is critical to every industry, every segment of the country.”

“In technology, it's always a challenge to find a lawyer that can bridge the gap between the technical folks and the business and legal folks, and so finding somebody that has the ability to both communicate on a technical basis, but also can do it in such a way with the business and legal compliance folks is a challenge, and Laila is somebody who fits that fantastically,” Kratofil added.

Paszti said she looks forward to helping build out Polsinelli's West Coast practice. She added that how AI is regulated is a top-of-mind issue for her and presents both potential challenges and opportunities. “ChatGPT and other generative AI tools have captured the public imagination,” she said. “At the same time there are also fears around the use of AI that’s promulgated a slew of proposed regulations, so navigating this regulatory landscape while trying to harness the power of AI is going to be an interesting and challenging aspect of the technology landscape.”

“I think it just means that it’s an exciting time for a technology lawyer,” she added.

Paszti holds a master’s degree in applied science in engineering from the University of Waterloo and a bachelor of applied science in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto, where she also earned her law degree. Before working with Kirkland, Paszti served as a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg in Toronto.

A Kirkland spokesperson told The Recorder via email, "we wish Laila well in her new role.”