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Michelle Visser

Partner

San Francisco

Michelle Visser is a tech litigator with a strong record of defending innovative companies in complex disputes and regulatory investigations at the intersection of cyber, privacy and online safety, including through invocation of platform immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Two of the largest tech companies in the world currently look to her to advise on these issues.

Michelle’s dedication to these cutting-edge areas of the law and technology over the past 20 years has earned her recognition from Chambers for Privacy & Data Security Litigation and as an up-and-coming lawyer in Privacy & Data generally – where she is described as “equally capable in both compliance and enforcement elements of privacy regulation.”

As a litigator, Michelle is adept at developing novel legal arguments to protect clients in a world where innovation is outpacing regulation. She brings deep experience representing companies in regulatory investigations, data breach and privacy litigation involving the increasing web of statutes that pose statutory damages exposure to companies, such as the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA), the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), and the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and other complex commercial claims. As a crisis manager, she also represents companies in incident response and enjoys working with diverse groups of stakeholders to mitigate business and reputational risks and achieve positive outcomes.

Michelle resides in California with her three children.

  • Privacy & Cybersecurity

    • Acuant.  Representing Acuant in obtaining full dismissal of a privacy class action pending in the Northern District of Illinois alleging that Acuant violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in connection with Acuant’s development and licensing of identity verification technologies.
    • Donnelley Financial Solutions, Inc.  Represented DFIN in securing a complete dismissal of all claims stemming from a vendor cybersecurity incident.
    • LabMD.  Represented LabMD in its successful petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals resulting in the first-ever court decision overturning an FTC cybersecurity action.
    • Tech and Software Provider. Represented a multinational technology company in successfully compelling individual arbitration as a third-party beneficiary to a customer contract after the customer’s contractors filed a putative class action alleging BIPA violations.
    • Ascension Data & Analytics.  Represented Ascension in defending two consumer class actions stemming from a data security incident suffered by our client’s third-party vendor, where the named plaintiffs each ultimately filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of their claims.
    • Cloud Platform Provider. Represented a P&C Insurance Cloud Platform provider in obtaining dismissal of all statutory damages claims stemming from its data security incident suffered by one of its customers.
    • HR Tech Provider. Representing an HR Technology Provider in defending putative class actions stemming from a data breach and involving claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA).
    • AI Safety Platform. Represented an AI-enabled driver safety platform in defending a privacy class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) where the named plaintiff ultimately filed a notice of voluntary dismissal.  
    • Nordstrom.  Represented Nordstrom in successfully compelling individual arbitration after a former employee filed a putative class action relating to a data mishandling incident announced in 2018.
    • Arby's.  Represented Arby's in successfully resolving card issuer class action litigation stemming from a payment card incident announced in February 2017.
    • Target.  Represented Target in successfully resolving card brand claims and card issuer class action litigation stemming from the data security breach that Target announced in 2013.
    • Sony.  Represented Sony and its various entities in investigating the data security breaches announced in 2011 and in responding to regulatory and card brand inquiries stemming from those security breaches.
    • Heartland Payment Systems.  Represented Heartland in the FTC investigation stemming from the data security breach announced by Heartland in 2009, which the FTC closed without taking any action against the company.
    • The TJX Companies Inc.  Represented TJX in securing a favorable settlement to terminate the investigation of a multi-state working group of 40 Attorneys General into the data security breach announced by TJX in 2007.

    Other Complex Commercial Litigation

    • Section 230. Co-lead of team that has litigated dozens of cases for one of the largest technology companies in the world involving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
    • PIMCO, BlackRock and TIAA.  Represented the investment managers in defending third-party contribution actions relating to residential mortgage-backed securities trusts.
    • First Guarantee Mortgage Corporation.  Defended FGMC in an indemnification action involving the sale of mortgage loans brought by the Rescap Liquidating Trust.
    • Hitachi-LG Data Storage.  Represented the Korean-Japanese joint venture in defending civil class actions, opt-out actions, and a state action alleging price-fixing in the optical disk drive industry.
    • American Dental Partners Inc.  Represented ADPI in securities fraud and derivative litigation stemming from ADPI’s announcement of a prior litigation loss. Secured dismissal of the derivative action and settlements within insurance policy limits to terminate the securities actions.

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