Leading Cybercrime Prosecutor Joins Latham & Watkins

February 29, 2016 -- Latham & Watkins LLP¹ is pleased to announce that Serrin Turner will join the firm as a partner in the Litigation & Trial Department of the New York office. Turner will focus his practice on cybersecurity and data-protection issues, including breach-preparedness counseling, incident response, law-enforcement liaison, information sharing, corporate governance and risk management, government investigations, litigation and trials. He expects to join the firm in late March.
Turner will join Latham from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s (SDNY) Criminal Division, where he was an Assistant US Attorney from 2010 to 2016 and served as the office’s Cyber Coordinator.  In that role, Turner was the office’s lead cybercrime prosecutor and was responsible for numerous complex cybercrime investigations and prosecutions. His work featured high-profile cybercrime cases and encompassed a broad range of cyber threats, including data breaches, corporate espionage, dark markets, online fraud, credit card trafficking, and money laundering through digital currencies. Turner has also been at the forefront of legal developments in the area of data privacy, representing the government in major challenges to federal statutes governing searches and surveillance of electronic data.
 
“Cybersecurity is an issue of high importance to our clients, including in New York where the world’s leading financial and business institutions have major operations,” said Michèle Penzer, Office Managing Partner in New York. “Serrin is well-positioned to help these organizations address unprecedented challenges in the age of big data. Furthermore, his track record is consistent with our collaborative and client-centric approach to addressing complex issues of the day.”
 
Miles Ruthberg, Chair of the New York Litigation & Trial Department, said: “Serrin deepens our litigation capabilities as a skilled former federal prosecutor with exceptional cybersecurity and trial experience. We are delighted that he will help us further expand our ability to assist clients in a fast-evolving field of great strategic importance for C-suite officers and boards.”
 
Kathy Ruemmler, Global Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Group added: “A hallmark of Latham’s cybersecurity work is our ability to effectively address novel and cross-border issues. Serrin’s distinctive blend of skills and experience — including his prior collaborations with leading government offices and agencies located around the world — complement these strengths.”
 
“Latham & Watkins presents a unique opportunity for me to join a global firm with a strong and growing role in cybersecurity law,” Turner said. “I am particularly impressed by the firm’s robust client base spanning diverse markets. I look forward to being part of a collaborative and innovative environment focused on helping businesses succeed in critical areas such as cybersecurity.”    
 
Turner earned his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. After receiving his JD, he clerked for Judge Sandra Lynch on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  He first joined the Department of Justice in 2001, leaving briefly from 2004 to 2005 to serve as associate counsel for the Liberty & National Security Project of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Prior to his tenure at the SDNY’s Criminal Division, Turner served from 2009 to 2010 as Counsel to the Executive Director for the Guantanamo Review Task Force and from 2005 to 2009 as an Assistant US Attorney for the SDNY’s Civil Division. He has received the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service on two occasions in recognition of his work.

About Latham & Watkins 
Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with more than 2,200 lawyers in its offices located in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States, including: Barcelona, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Century City, Chicago, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New Jersey, New York, Orange County, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information on Latham & Watkins, please visit the website at www.lw.com.