"My career is built on a foundation of hands-on industry experience married with legal expertise and diplomatic acumen."

"My career is built on a foundation of hands-on industry experience married with legal expertise and diplomatic acumen. As a seasoned advisor and data governance and privacy expert to General Counsels, Heads of Legal and Chief Privacy Officers, I help guide technology companies through complex legal challenges, global compliance and data governance projects, multi-agency regulatory inquiries across jurisdictions, and the use of AI. I understand that each organisation faces unique circumstances, and I work to develop practical solutions that align with business objectives.

Crisis management expertise, honed as a US diplomat, enables me to coach organisations through challenging and stressful data breaches and cyber incidents. I have a deep level of experience in dealing with the issues they are addressing and I am used to dealing with pressurised situations, preparing timely and effective strategies providing steady guidance when organisations need it most.

My international experience is extensive and comes from a diverse career path. Born in the USA, I have lived and worked in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Kosovo, New Zealand and throughout the USA, with professional experience spanning another 20 countries across four continents. This global exposure helps me understand the complexities of cross-border compliance and local cultural considerations.

I aim to be a trusted advisor to my clients - approachable, genuine, and pragmatic, always keeping business outcomes at the center of our work together. I believe in listening carefully to understand each client’s specific needs and challenges, recognising that effective legal counsel must be both technically sound and practically applicable."

Cavan’s recent work highlights:

The below matters were advised on by Cavan prior to joining RPC.

Led and delivered a data privacy maturity project spanning seven countries for Europe's leading cinema entertainment company. 

Advised on a multi-year contract for the delivery of a one-stop, on-call cyber breach response service for one of the world's largest law firms. This included the provision of comprehensive training, data forensics, regulatory response and external communications support across 30 countries.

Led on the creation and delivery of a structured data privacy and cybersecurity health check service enabling the assessment of an organisation's maturity against a number of standards, identification of areas of improvement and the delivery of programme improvements. Successfully delivered over ten such projects for leading luxury brands, life sciences companies, retail, entertainment, and pharmaceutical companies.

Served as senior legal counsel guiding the establishment of a data privacy and cybersecurity function within the legal, compliance and governance division of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), a directorate of the UK Department of Health and Social Care. The UKHSA is uniquely tasked with bringing enhanced data insights and analytics to government decision-making to combat Covid-19 and other pandemics.

Lead attorney supporting Apple's Senior Global VP of iPhone and iPad Sales and Marketing as well as Apple's C-suite on large, strategic iPhone and iPad initiatives with mobile operators in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Middle East and South East Asia.