Legal Elite 2020 — Intellectual Property/Information Technology Profile

Janet P. Peyton, McGuireWoods, Richmond

Published November 30, 2020 by Virginia Business

Title: Partner
Other legal specialties: Data privacy and security
Birthplace: Alexandria
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Duke University; law degree, Tulane Law School
Spouse: Christopher W. Francoise
Children: Sophie, L.T. and Will
Fan of: Duke basketball
Recently read book: “Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Hobbies or pastimes: I’m a voracious reader.
Favorite vacation spot: Shrine Mont conference and retreat center in western Shenandoah County
Career mentors: Alex Slaughter, Bud Schill, Janie Sellers
How do you see data privacy changing amid the pandemic?
Working remotely has created opportunities for hackers, particularly where individuals are using their own devices to work remotely. Often those devices are not as frequently updated with patches for known vulnerabilities, and individuals are tempted to store information locally for ease of use instead of relying on the company’s document management system.
How did the Blackbaud data breach impact your practice?
In May of this year, Blackbaud, a cloud software platform used by many nonprofits, discovered it had been the subject of a ransomware attack. Although Blackbaud initially downplayed the incident, it became clear over the summer that many Blackbaud customers had lost data that included Social Security numbers and financial account information. Data breach notification is still largely governed by state law, and each state and territory has its own laws, so each nonprofit had to evaluate its own reporting requirements. For many of them, the Blackbaud breach was their first experience with a reportable data breach. I spent the better part of the summer and early fall assisting our nonprofit clients with compliance and remediation of the Blackbaud breach.

See more from our 2020 Legal Elite package:

• 2020 Legal Elite: Intellectual Property/Information Technology list
• The 21st edition of the Virginia Business Legal Elite

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.