Adam Connolly is an experienced legal advisor and problem solver with 18 years in practice. He counsels clients on data, privacy, and cybersecurity issues when they are developing products, designing compliance strategies, negotiating deals, or responding to incidents and investigations.
Adam founded Berkeley Data Law PC to help meet the growing demand for alternatives to big law firms among companies seeking data, privacy, and cybersecurity counsel. Before starting BDL, Adam was a San Francisco-based partner in the cyber/data/privacy practice of Cooley LLP, a leading global law firm. While his practice focuses on venture-backed companies at all growth stages, Adam has advised hundreds of businesses ranging from pre-seed startups to the Fortune 100, as well as leading venture capital investors and financial institutions. Adam's practice draws on experience in multiple industry sectors, including tech, energy, financial services, life sciences, healthcare, retail, media, and entertainment.
Previously, Adam was Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Data Protection Officer at Opower (acquired by Oracle), a cloud-based software company that pioneered the use of data-driven behavioral science to help utilities and their customers achieve energy efficiency goals. As a former in-house lawyer, Adam strives to provide the kind of outside counsel he valued most when he was the client - practical, actionable, efficient. A deal lawyer by training, Adam spent six years representing clients in corporate and transactional matters at leading law firms before going in-house, where his work navigating privacy and cybersecurity challenges became a passion and the focus of his practice.
Adam is an International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US). He holds BA and MA degrees from Stanford University and a JD from the University of Maryland School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in California.
Adam spends his offline time at his three kids' sporting events, coaching youth basketball, and mountain biking near his home in Berkeley, CA.
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