Polsinelli Hires Data Privacy, Tech Transactions Partner From Kirkland & Ellis
Laila Paszti joins Polsinelli after more than two years at Kirkland’s San Francisco office.
November 12, 2024 at 01:00 PM
3 minute read
RecruitingWhat You Need to Know
- Polsinelli hired former Kirkland & Ellis partner Laila Paszti as a partner.
- Paszti will join the tech transactions and data privacy practice in Polsinelli's San Francisco office.
- The firm is actively growing its offering in the practice area.
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.”
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 AllEx-Major, Lindsey & Africa Leader Joins CenterPeak, Formerly Johnson Downie and Lippman Jungers
Facing a Shrinking Talent Pool, Insurance Defense Firms Are Fighting to Add Attorneys
6 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Gordon Rees Opens 80th Office, ‘Collaboration Hub’ in Palo Alto
- 2The White Stripes Drop Copyright Claim Against Trump Campaign
- 3Law Firm Accused of Barratry for Allegedly Soliciting Crash Victims
- 4Carlton Fields Downsizes in Move to New Atlanta Office
- 5Trump's Selection of Zeldin to Head EPA Draws Surprise, Little Hope of Avoiding Deregulation
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