Securing the Deal: How Cybersecurity Shapes Buy-Side Transactions

Greg Szewczyk is a partner in Ballard Spahr’s Denver and Boulder offices and Practice Leader of the Privacy and Data Security Group. Greg leverages a career that includes both high-stakes transactions and litigation to help companies take a practical approach to assessing risk and complying with the ever expanding patchwork of state, federal, and international privacy and data security statutes and regulations.

Greg helps companies of all sizes, from Fortune 500s to start ups, build and maintain their privacy and data security programs. He has advised hundreds of companies on various compliance issues—from the use of artificial intelligence to vendor management to routine data processing matters that arise in day-to-day business—relating to the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), state financial privacy laws, the Telephone Consumer Privacy Act (TCPA), and various other laws and regulations. Greg also advises clients in connection with corporate transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships. In doing so, he helps his clients assess the potential risks involved and develop creative solutions to data issues.

In addition to his compliance and transactional practices, Greg has advised clients in data breach response, including breaches impacting consumers in all 50 states and internationally. Greg also has defended companies facing data breach and privacy class actions, and has represented companies in business-to-business litigation stemming from data incidents and the alleged misuse of data, including issues involving artificial intelligence.

Greg is accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional / United States (CIPP/US). He is regularly quoted in periodicals such as Bloomberg. Prior to joining Ballard Spahr, Greg was an associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York. During law school, Greg served a legal internship with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps.

Prior to founding GrowthFire, Tim served as Board Member, CEO and senior Sales and Marketing executive for multiple companies across the technology industry. He’s passionate about transforming emerging stage companies into more successful companies. Tim earned his Finance undergraduate from The University of Missouri and MBA in Marketing from the Carlson School of Management. He’s earned industry credentials in Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, and other industries.

Dave Collier is a Senior Vice President with Aon's Cyber Solutions team. Dave's focus is helping clients address cyber risks in the M&A lifecycle and beyond - cybersecurity due diligence, digital forensics / incident response investigations and cyber advisory for insurance / integration planning.

After graduating from law school, Bill began his legal career in private practice as an employment and business litigator with a Minneapolis law firm. His first role after leaving private practice was to serve as in-house counsel for Rollerblade. Since then, he has held in-house counsel positions at several corporations including Pillsbury, FICO and Ameriprise Financial. While at Ameriprise, Bill led the team responsible for legal support of their public company compliance, M&A, and corporate finance functions. He and his team handled many transactions for Ameriprise, including securities offerings and acquisitions (such as the acquisitions of H&R Block Financial Advisors, the Seligman Funds, Columbia Asset Management and numerous advisor practice acquisitions), as well as the sale of Securities America. Most recently, he served as General Counsel for Johnson Brothers Liquor Company, one of the largest wine importers and wholesalers in the United States.