As Practice Leader of Ballard Spahr's Privacy and Data Security Group, and Practice Leader of the firm's E-Discovery and Data Management Group, Philip N. Yannella provides clients with 360-degree advice on the transfer, storage, and use of digital information.
Phil regularly advises clients on the Stored Communications Act (SCA), Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), EU-US Privacy Shield, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Defense of Trade Secrets Act, PCI-DSS, Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), New York Department of Financial Services Cybersecurity Regulations, ISO 27001 compliance, HIPAA Security Rules, and FTC enforcement activity, as well as eDiscovery issues—leveraging his experience serving as National Discovery Counsel for more than two dozen companies in nationwide litigation. He harnesses his deep knowledge of privacy, data security, and information governance laws to help multinational companies develop global information governance programs to comply with overlapping, and sometimes conflicting, laws. Phil serves on the advisory board for the ACC Foundation's Cybersecurity Survey, the largest survey of in-house counsel on cybersecurity issues.
Experience
Representative Matters
Complex Litigation and Investigations
- Successful representation of an auto finance company in a bet-the-company TCPA action with damage allegations of over $100 million. Defeated class certification and won summary judgment.
- Successful representation of a pharmaceutical client in a civil action seeking publication of anonymized clinical data valued at $1 billion. Using a re-identification analysis, successfully persuaded the court that publication would reveal private health information of 95 percent of clinical trial patients.
- Defense of a major bank in overdraft class action. Retained an expert to model damages from archival and legacy data.
E-Discovery & Information Governance
- Served as national discovery counsel for a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in litigation relating to a COX-2 inhibitor.
- Served as national discovery counsel for a pharmaceutical joint venture in litigation relating to statin.
- Served as national discovery counsel for a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in litigation relating to an antipsychotic medication.
Professional Highlights
Professional Activities
The Sedona Conference Institute
Member, International Data Privacy, eDiscovery, and Cross-Border Data Transfer Issues Working Groups
Defense Research Institute
IAPP
ARMA
Recognition & Accomplishments
The Legal 500 US, Dispute resolution - E-discovery, 2019
Speaking Engagements
Speaker, "Risk Management & Cyber Security: What You Don't Know Can Kill You," CEO Connection Mid-Market Convention, Philadelphia, September 23, 2019
"Emerging Data Security Laws: An Innovation Opportunity," Comcast Labs Connect's Security by the Schuylkill, Philadelphia, April 16, 2019
Speaker, "The California Consumer Privacy Act: What Comes Next?" Ballard Spahr webinar, March 20, 2019
Publications
Co-author, "Utah Privacy Law Would Be First to Require Search Warrant for Government to Access Stored Data," The National Law Review, March 28, 2019
Author, "European Union Discovery Presents Compliance Headaches for U.S. Litigants," The Legal Intelligencer, February 5, 2018
Credentials
Education
Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law (J.D. 1997)
Member, Political and Civil Rights Law Review
Member, Temple Moot Court
Recipient, Trial Advocacy Program's Outstanding Advocate Award
Temple University (B.A., summa cum laude, 1991)
Admissions
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit