Bill Roberts is the Co-Chair of the firm’s Data Privacy and Protection Practice Group and a partner in the firm's Health Law Practice Group. Bill is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Today’s businesses and organizations collect, transfer and store a wide range of data on a daily basis, and must use, disclose and safeguard such data in compliance with myriad legal requirements. Bill and his team work with clients to find solutions to these and other data privacy and regulatory challenges.
Bill focuses his practice at the intersection of privacy, technology and the law, and represents a wide range of public and private entities, such as health care providers (including hospitals, independent school health centers and behavioral health clinics), insurers, manufacturers, and technology firms (including software companies, mobile app developers, insurance technology (“InsurTech”) firms and health care technology companies). He assists these clients in navigating legal challenges with respect to regulatory compliance, governmental investigations, data breaches and complex contracting. Clients who seek Bill’s advice and guidance range from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies.
In addition to advising clients in more than 100 national and international data breach matters, Bill regularly assists with establishing compliance programs for early detection of privacy concerns and guides clients in conducting investigations and providing notifications when a breach has occurred. He also provides representation during breach investigations before the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general and state departments of insurance. In addition, Bill counsels clients regarding compliance with an entire alphabet soup of privacy laws and regulations, including:
- HIPAA/HITECH
- Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB)
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
- EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) Cybersecurity Regulation
- Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
- Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA)
To further support his clients in data breach situations, Bill is a member of a consortium of professionals providing a comprehensive set of data breach-related marketing, communications, leadership and IT solutions.
Health care and insurance sector organizations also work with Bill to devise solutions to privacy challenges relating to product development, service offerings, human subjects research and data-sharing arrangements.
Bill is active in the data privacy space, and has been appointed by the State of Connecticut to serve on its Connecticut Health Data Collaborative working group and is a mentor to early stage InsurTech companies.
Bill loves to talk about health care and privacy matters and thus is a frequent speaker and author, both nationally and internationally. He is also regularly called upon by the media to comment on health care and privacy legal matters.
Aside from helping his busy clients, Bill is a father and lifelong skier.