Alan Raul

Alan Charles Raul

Alan Raul is a Lecturer at Harvard Law School, Board Chair and President of the Future of Privacy Forum, and Board Secretary of the Society for the Rule of Law. Alan founded and led Sidley Austin LLP’s global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice for over twenty-five years.  

In addition to his teaching and board service, Alan continues to represent clients on U.S. and international matters through Raul Consulting Company.  He advises companies on regulatory enforcement, crisis management, compliance and due diligence regarding data practices, information technology, artificial intelligence, and cyber attacks, breaches and software vulnerabilities. Alan also addresses issues involving constitutional, administrative and national security law.  His opinion pieces on current legal and policy issues have appeared in various leading publications. 

At Harvard Law School, Alan teaches “Digital Governance: Privacy, Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology.” He is an Affiliate of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.  He has directed a BKC/HLS Reading Group on Emerging TechReg Policies, and has taught “Cybersecurity Risks, Rules and Responsibilities” at both Harvard and Georgetown Law School, where he is an Adjunct Professor of Law.  He is a longstanding member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Nantucket Atheneum, the island’s historic public library.

Alan has served in government as Vice Chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. During his service on PCLOB, the Board addressed the Terrorist Surveillance Program authorized by the President. He also served as General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget; General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Associate Counsel to the President. In his prior government service, Alan represented the White House in connection with congressional and independent counsel investigations of the Iran-Contra episode.  

Alan received his J.D. from Yale Law School, M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School, and A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College. 

In addition to founding Sidley’s Privacy and Cyber practice in 1998, Alan helped found the Society for the Rule of Law in 2018 as “Checks and Balances.” The Society is a group of conservative and center-right lawyers dedicated to defending democracy and the rule of law regardless of party affiliation. In 1990, Alan co-founded “Lawyers Have Heart,” a 10K run and walk to benefit the American Heart Association. 

In his law practice, Alan has represented a number of leading technology and internet companies whose devices, software, or users have been exploited by state-sponsored threat actors. Such events typically involve extensive coordination with U.S. and international law enforcement, cybersecurity and regulatory agencies, and intelligence services. Cyber crises often involve managing various legal, regulatory, B2B, and consumer risks as well as offering advice regarding a broad range of corporate communications and public messaging. He represented the internet technology company that collaborated successfully with U.S. and UK governments to defend against and take down the Russian GRU’s malicious “Cyclops Blink” malware before the Ukraine invasion.

Alan represented the Special Cybersecurity Committee of Yahoo!’s Board of Directors in connection with its independent investigation of the company’s handling of the two largest data breaches ever reported. Alan represented AT&T in support of Microsoft in In the Matter of a Warrant to Search Certain E-mail Account Controlled and Maintained by Microsoft Corporation (contesting extraterritorial access to electronic communications stored in Ireland). And, invoking “the interest of justice,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson appointed Alan to serve as pro bono counsel to represent the privacy interests of jurors in connection with a high profile criminal litigation, In re: Juror Questionnaires in United States v. Stone; the jurors feared the disclosure of their confidential questionnaires would lead to cyber harassment and worse. 

Alan is ranked in Chambers’ first tier of privacy and cybersecurity practitioners and has been named a BTI Super All-Star for client service in the privacy and cybersecurity field.  Alan has also been named as a leading international Internet and E-Commerce Lawyer in Who’s Who Legal, and Ethisphere Institute’s “Attorneys Who Matter” in Data Privacy/Security, which recognizes lawyers with the highest commitment to public service, legal community engagement, and academic involvement. The Washingtonian has named Alan one of Washington, D.C.’s Best Lawyers for Cybersecurity and also for First Amendment and Media Law, and the National Law Journal named him a “Cyber Security Trailblazer.” 

A list of Alan’s litigation and enforcement matters as well as his professional and opinion publications is available on request.