Carlton Fields’ Trailblazing Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice Welcomes Prominent Los Angeles Technology Lawyer Christina M. Gagnier

Los Angeles, Calif. – Carlton Fields welcomes technology lawyer Christina M. Gagnier as a shareholder in the firm’s growing Los Angeles office. An influential privacy law attorney, professor, and author, Gagnier is the newest addition to Carlton Fields’ national Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice. Most notably, she served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer Advisory Committee and the California attorney general’s Cyber Exploitation Task Force. Gagnier’s practice also encompasses blockchain technology, international regulatory affairs, technology transactions, and intellectual property.

Gagnier is the sixth attorney to join Carlton Fields’ Los Angeles office in less than six months. She also expands the firm’s trailblazing Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice, a group of experienced litigation and transactional attorneys who provide clients across industries with comprehensive counsel on complex, evolving, and multifaceted issues related to privacy, data security incidents and breaches, and related matters. The group’s attorneys comprise former federal cybersecurity prosecutors and Certified Information Privacy Professionals (CIPP/US). They are active and hold leadership positions in data privacy and cybersecurity organizations including The Sedona Conference Working Group on Data Security and Privacy Liability. Their thought leadership is showcased in several innovative resources including a CCPA Toolkit, a GDPR Assessment App, and an e-book titled California Consumer Privacy Act: A Reference Guide for Compliance. Carlton Fields was also named one of the top 25 law firms in the nation for its Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice.

“Given California’s strong presence in cyber issues, securing a lawyer of Christina’s depth and breadth of experience adds to our capabilities both here on the West Coast and nationally,” said Mark A. Neubauer, the firm’s Los Angeles office managing shareholder. “We are extremely pleased she chose to join us and look forward to having her help us grow that burgeoning area of the law.”

Added Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice Co-Chair Joseph W. Swanson, “Christina brings a wealth of experience advising clients on privacy matters. She joins us at a time when California is taking the lead on privacy issues with the sweeping California Consumer Privacy Act taking effect on January 1. As other states follow suit with their own privacy legislation, Christina will be an invaluable resource to our clients.”

Prior to joining Carlton Fields, Gagnier was managing partner at Gagnier Margossian, where she led the Internet, Intellectual Property, and Technology Practice. Her practice focuses on advising clients on digital strategy to help them navigate uncharted legal territory. Gagnier guides a variety of technology companies and consumer brands through emerging legal and policy issues such as digital currency, the sharing economy, network neutrality, and the ever-changing area of consumer privacy law.

“Carlton Fields has a deep bench of skilled lawyers in a variety of key areas for my clients, including intellectual property, labor and employment, and tax,” Gagnier said. “I’m thrilled to serve my clients with a national platform.”

Outside her practice, Gagnier is an adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, where she serves as clinical faculty for the Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology Clinic. She teaches the only privacy law class offered at UCI Law. Gagnier’s primary research involves cyber rights and the intersection of online and offline action.

Gagnier is a frequent speaker and author on issues involving internet law, particularly online harassment, including nonconsensual pornography and cyberbullying. She has authored articles in HuffPost’s technology section and columns on legal ethics on the web and internet law topics for California Lawyer, and she served as the host for “Techwire” on the California Channel. Gagnier has appeared on NBC’s “Press:Here” and on radio stations including KCBS in San Francisco and WCCO in Minneapolis, and she has been quoted by AlterNet, Ars Technica, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, BuzzFeed, Inc., MIT Technology Review, MSNBC, NBC News, The New York Times, Politico, The Recorder, The Mercury News, TechCrunch, and The Verge.

Passionate about technology education, Gagnier serves as the CEO of the LINK Americas Foundation, which aims to improve digital literacy across the United States, Canada, and Central and South America. She is also the CEO of Know Before You Go, an organization that grants scholarships for college visits. In her local community, Gagnier serves as the secretary and member of the board of directors of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. She is also the vice president of the governing board for the Chino Valley Unified School District and was one of the first candidates for public office to accept bitcoin. 

Gagnier earned her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, her M.P.A. from the University of Southern California, and her B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.

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