Cooley strengthens cyber/data/privacy team with former Facebook assistant GC

Cooley is boosting its cybersecurity and data privacy capabilities with the hire of Tiana Demas. She joins Cooley in New York directly from Facebook, where she was assistant GC and led a team investigating cyberattacks, in a move that boosts Cooley’s growing East Coast litigation team.

Commenting on her move to the firm, Demas said Cooley, “consistently attracts and successfully litigates the most interesting and complex cases in the industry,” before adding that the firm’s culture and platform “provide the perfect opportunity to transition back to a top law firm.”

Demas brings a wealth of data privacy and cybersecurity investigation experience to Cooley, a firm already highly regarded for its handling of data privacy cases. Based in Palo Alto, California, Cooley has been eyeing the East Coast as a focus for its expansion efforts and adding Demas significantly advances their tech-focused agenda.

During her tenure at Facebook, Demas dealt directly with cyberattacks and threats targeting the company’s entire platform and brands, including its user base of 2.7 million accounts. She also served as the liaison between Facebook and law enforcement agencies in cyber-related investigations involving the company.

Demas formerly served as deputy chief of general crimes at the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York as a designated cyber specialist. As a federal prosecutor, she worked on matters ranging from cybercrime to national security, as well as economic and trade sanctions and financial fraud.

Growing the firm’s East Coast trial team has been a long-term target for Cooley, with the goal being that their bench will rival the depth of the team’s in California. Demas is set to take on a crucial role in the group as she possesses a unique combination of in-house, federal and first-chair trial experience.

“Her skills will lend themselves seamlessly to guiding our innovative client base through some of the most cutting-edge and pressing challenges of our time,” said Mike Attanasio, chair of Cooley’s global litigation department.

The firm has handled their fair share of serious challenges against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only served to exacerbate the wealth of data privacy and cybersecurity-related issues presented to Cooley over the last year. Cooley’s high-profile clients notably include Zoom Video Communications, which it is currently defending against claims regarding a lack of transparency regarding how the company handles and shares user data.

Cooley and Facebook have a well-documented history, having made 83 appearances on behalf of the company over the past five years, as reported by Bloomberg Law, which is more than any other law firm. Cooley represented Facebook in July in a widely-publicised case that saw the company reach a class action settlement of $650 million to address its alleged unauthorised use of facial recognition technology in violation of the Illinois Biometrics Information Privacy Act.