Navigating the Data Privacy Regulatory Minefield

Lara Sevener is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group and a member of the commercial transactions team. Lara’s practice focuses on advising clients with respect to strategic commercial contracting as well as drafting and negotiating complex technology, outsourcing, and digital transactions.
Lara has more than 20 years of experience advising clients on technology-related transactions, both as a lawyer in private practice, where she advised clients on both the supplier and customer sides across a broad range of sectors, and as inhouse counsel to a number of market-leading national and multinational organizations. Lara draws on her experience as in-house commercial, procurement, and technology counsel to provide results-oriented, business-practical legal advice and obtain market-leading positions in the contracts she negotiates.
Lara draws on her deep experience negotiating technology transactions to counsel clients on a broad range of technology matters, including digital transformation, strategic sourcing, business process and other strategic outsourcing transactions, software as a service, anything as a service, application support and maintenance, software licensing and development, end-user support, digital advertising and marketing, and strategic alliance and ecosystem agreements.
Lara has represented international and domestic businesses, including publicly traded corporations, privately held companies, utilities, and partnerships in multimillion-dollar transactions domestically and globally. She regularly advises on the use, licensing, acquisition, and commercialization of intellectual property, including matters regarding privacy and data protection. Lara is well versed in transactional data privacy and advises clients on the most effective contractual mechanisms to comply with US and international data privacy laws and attendant issues that frequently arise in crossborder commercial and technology transactions.
Prior to joining Jones Walker, Lara served as global lead procurement, technology, and outsourcing counsel for a leading global audit and consulting organization. Her in-house experience also includes serving as lead e-commerce counsel for a $150 billion, Fortune 50 home improvement retailer and as senior counsel for technology and procurement for one of the largest producers of electricity in the United States and the largest wholesale energy provider in the Southeast. A skilled negotiator, Lara understands the real-world business implications of technology transactions and works closely with clients to provide practical, creative solutions to complex business problems.

Amy Lee Stewart is an experienced commercial litigator specializing in competition and trade secrets litigation. She has served as lead counsel in matters involving trade secrets, unfair competition, antitrust claims, the FCRA, and alleged privacy violations, tax incentives, lender liability, distributor terminations, as well as breaches of contract and products liability. Much of her work revolves around three types of representations: class-action defense in multiple subject areas and industries; defense and prosecution of complex commercial litigation and appeals; and counseling clients in avoiding or defending antitrust, unfair competition, and employee mobility claims arising out of mergers, acquisitions, and other transactions. Amy is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Georgia, and Arkansas, and the 7th, 8th, and Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
Amy has an AV-"Preeminent" Martindale Hubbell rating ("Ms. Stewart enjoys an excellent reputation nationally in civil litigation, particularly antitrust and regulatory matters"), and has been recognized by ChambersUSA Leading Lawyers in Litigation (2008-2018), Best Lawyers - Intellectual Property Litigation (2017, 2018), Mid-South SuperLawyers - Business Litigation (2006-2018), and as a BTI Client All Star - 3 year MVP.
Amy was appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court to two terms on its Civil Jury Instruction Committee, is a former President of the Henry Woods American Inn of Court, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Arkansas Bar.

Jennifer Abernathy is the director of data privacy for AAR CORP. and is the founder of Abernathy Law Office. At AAR, Jennifer’s responsibilities include designing and implementing a global privacy program, establishing data governance functions, and advising on data privacy agreements. Her previous experience includes more than twelve years as in-house counsel and chief compliance officer for a financial institution where she designed, implemented, and managed a comprehensive compliance program. Jennifer is admitted to practice law in Illinois. She obtained her BS from Western Michigan University as a Medallion Scholar, and she acquired her JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Jennifer is accredited as Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US and CIPP/E) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals."

Dara Steele-Belkin serves as EVP, Assistant General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading payments technology company delivering innovative software and transaction processing services globally. As Chief Privacy Officer, Dara leads the company's Privacy Office, which is responsible for providing advice and support to the business to enable privacy compliance throughout the world. Dara also leads the team that provides legal support to Global Payments' Business Technology Services group by advising, negotiating, and drafting the company’s third-party technology license, service and other outsourcing agreements on a worldwide basis. Integral to her support of the company's technology group is Dara's partnership with Information Security, through which she helps to ensure the security and compliance of the company's internal processes, as well as its new technologies, products and services. In addition, Dara leads the team of skilled attorneys and staff supporting Global Payments' Issuer Solutions and B2B segment, worldwide.

Dara joined Global Payments in 2007, after spending five years as a litigator with Sutherland Asbill and Brennan LLP. Dara joined Sutherland following the completion of a federal judicial clerkship with Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Prior to her clerkship with Judge Kollar-Kotelly, Dara served as judicial law clerk to Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Dara graduated magna cum laude from Duke Law School in 1999 and cum laude from Duke University in 1996. Dara lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children. When not working or with her family, Dara is usually out for a run, training for her next marathon.