Alan Raul

Alan Charles Raul

Alan Raul is a Lecturer at Harvard Law School, Board Chair and President of the Society for the Rule of Law, and Board Chair and President of the Future of Privacy Forum. He is also an Affiliate of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society (BKC). Alan founded and led Sidley Austin LLP’s global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice for over twenty-five years. Alan now practices law and undertakes strategic, advisory, and oversight projects as Principal of Raul Consulting Company.

At Harvard Law School, Alan teaches “Digital Governance: Privacy, Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology.” He also leads a TechReg program on AI Policy Developments for BKC and HLS/Beyond. He has taught “Cybersecurity Risks, Rules and Responsibilities” at Harvard and Georgetown Law School, where he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law.

Alan 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 also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Kohlberg Center on the U.S. Supreme Court (affiliated with the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law). 

Alan served in government as Vice Chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (under President George W. Bush). During his service on PCLOB, the Board addressed the Terrorist Surveillance Program authorized by the President.

He also served as Associate Counsel to the President (Ronald Reagan); General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget (under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush); and General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (under George H.W. Bush). In the White House, Alan represented the Executive Branch in connection with congressional and independent counsel investigations of the Iran-Contra episode. He was also involved in reviewing potential nominations by the President of Supreme Court Justices, federal judges, and U.S. Attorneys.

Under Raul Consulting Company, Alan advises companies and boards on regulatory enforcement, crisis management, compliance and due diligence regarding data practices, information technology, artificial intelligence, and cyber attacks, breaches and software vulnerabilities. Over numerous years in private practice, Alan has represented AT&T, Microsoft, Palo Alto, Ivanti, WatchGuard, Facebook, Yahoo!, Clearlake, Morgan Stanley, Edward Jones, Goldman Sachs, Costco, Amgen, Bayer, Raytheon, Gannett, Sara Lee, Tyson Foods, Metagenics, MyHeritage, SIFMA, and the National Automobile Dealers Association, among others. 

In addition to teaching, speaking, and writing about AI, privacy, cyber, and other technology policy issues, Alan also publishes frequently on public policy matters involving the rule of law, and other constitutional, administrative, and national security legal matters. His opinion pieces on various topical issues appear in numerous leading publications. 

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. He clerked for the Hon. Malcolm R. Wilkey, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

In addition to founding Sidley’s Privacy and Cyber practice in 1998, Alan helped found the Society for the Rule of Law in 2018, originally known 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 has been ranked in Chambers’ first tier of privacy and cybersecurity practitioners and a BTI Super All-Star for client service in the privacy and cybersecurity field.  Alan was also 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 Magazine 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.