Eric Vandevelde is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office.  He is co-chair of the Artificial Intelligence practice group and a member of the firm’s White Collar, Privacy & Cybersecurity, and Intellectual Property practice groups.  Mr. Vandevelde is a former federal prosecutor, supervised the Cyber & IP Crimes section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, and has significant first-chair trial experience, both while at the DOJ and in the private sector.  He has a deep technical background, with a degree in computer science from Stanford and having worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley and Latin America.  He repeatedly has been ranked by Chambers and recognized by Super Lawyers and the Daily Journal, including as one of the Top 20 Cyber/Artificial Intelligence lawyers in California.

Eric has an extremely broad practice—handling criminal and civil trials, internal investigations, enforcement matters, advisory work for boards and management, and product counseling—but nearly all of his matters lie at the intersection of technology and the law, and involve cutting edge issues in AI, cryptocurrency, data privacy, cybersecurity, biotech, fintech, gaming, and software.  Eric has also represented clients in some of the highest profile, highest stakes cases in the country concerning government demands for personal data and technical assistance in connection with criminal and national security-related investigations.

Representative criminal and regulatory investigations matters:

• Representing cryptocurrency platform in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
• Representing technology/software company in criminal investigation involving allegations of hacking, copyright infringement, and fraud.
• Representing technology platform company in DOJ investigation regarding alleged federal violations based on novel theories of secondary criminal liability.
• Obtained formal declination for mobile gaming company in coordinated consumer protection investigations by multiple state regulators relating to in-app purchases.
• Obtained successful resolution for leading technology company in investigation by 30+ state Attorneys General and multiple District Attorneys’ offices, alongside parallel investigations by DOJ, SEC, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• Obtained formal declinations for financial services executives in connection with “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal.
• Obtained formal declinations for employees of U.S. defense contractor in DOJ investigation into alleged fraudulent billing practices.
• Obtained successful resolution for online gaming and fantasy sports company in wide-ranging criminal and regulatory investigations.
• Obtained successful resolution for healthcare services provider in nationwide False Claims Act (FCA) investigation by DOJ and the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS).
• Obtained successful resolution for home warranty company in state Attorney General investigation.
• Obtained successful resolution, with no admission of wrongdoing, for CFO of publicly traded company in parallel SEC and DOJ investigations.
• On pro bono basis, obtained dismissal of all charges against healthcare care provider alleged to have submitted false claims for payment under California’s In-home Support Services health care program.
• Led internal investigation for nutraceutical company, uncovering evidence of fraud through digital forensics and recovering $20+ million within days of confronting perpetrators.
• Led internal investigations for numerous other companies, including crypto infrastructure company, game developer, next generation transportation company, online service providers, and medical device and biotech companies.

Representative litigation matters:

• Representing Rimini Street, a leading provider of support services for enterprise resource planning software, in litigations involving claims under the Copyright Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and unfair competition laws.
• Represented HPE in copyright infringement lawsuit.
• Represented Amazon Web Services in bid protest regarding the U.S. Department of Defense’s $10 billion JEDI cloud contract.
• Represented AT&T Mobility in lawsuit arising out of alleged theft of cryptocurrency and related cybersecurity issues.
• Represented Machine Zone, a leading mobile game developer, in complex commercial litigation against former datacenter services provider involving allegations of theft of trade secrets, breach of contract, and fraud.
• Represented Amgen in lawsuit involving patent licensing dispute.
• Represented AddOn Networks in copyright infringement, DMCA, and CFAA lawsuit.
• Represented St. Jude Medical in trade secret case involving theft and misuse of confidential information by former employee in company’s research and development arm.
• Represented major retailer in threatened lawsuits regarding the retailer’s website for alleged violations of state wiretap laws and other privacy-related violations.

AI / Cybersecurity / Privacy matters:

Across a wide range of industries, including software, hardware, social media, cloud and other online services, retail and luxury goods, health care, biotech and other life sciences, telecom, transportation, and private equity, Eric has helped numerous clients identify and manage AI, cybersecurity, and privacy risks:

• AI – Represented and advised technology companies, including social media and gaming companies, regarding compliance and risk mitigation with respect to AI, dark patterns, and other algorithmic decision-making issues.
• Data Breach / Incident Response – Represented victim companies in crisis management and remediation efforts (including managing forensics, consumer notification and regulatory reporting requirements, law enforcement interactions, and public relations) in connection with some of the largest and most sophisticated cyberattacks and data breaches.
• Cybersecurity – Advised C-suite, boards, and audit or special committees on cybersecurity risk and best practices, and compliance with applicable cybersecurity laws and regulations.
• Privacy – Advised and proactively managed compliance efforts with respect to various privacy laws and regulations, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Government Demands for Data and Assistance – Handled complex, high-profile, or contentious demands for data and technical assistance by government agencies and law enforcement via subpoenas, search warrants, pen registers, wiretaps, national security letters (NSLs), and other formal process issued under federal and state law, including the Stored Communications Act (SCA), Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and Wiretap Act. Successfully litigated against the government to resist overbroad and unlawful process, as well as accompanying non-disclosure (i.e., “gag”) orders. Advised companies on encryption issues relating to such disputes.

From 2007 to 2014, Eric served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.  He was Deputy Chief of the Cyber & IP Crimes unit, supervising one of the nation’s largest teams of federal prosecutors dedicated to investigating and prosecuting computer hacking and intellectual property offenses.  He was the lead prosecutor on numerous high-profile cyber-crime investigations, including cases involving corporate espionage, theft of trade secrets, APTs, botnets, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and other sophisticated cyberattacks by nation-state actors.  Eric handled the prosecution of several infamous hacking groups that infiltrated government and corporate servers around the world.  He also successfully prosecuted numerous traditional white collar cases as part of the Major Frauds Section, including healthcare fraud, mortgage fraud, investment fraud, tax fraud, and government procurement fraud cases, as well as some of the largest Ponzi scheme cases in Southern California.

While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eric first-chaired complex financial fraud, intellectual property, and cybercrime-related cases, and mentored junior prosecutors in numerous other trials.  He successfully argued multiple appeals before the Ninth Circuit.  He also trained new prosecutors regarding electronic surveillance and data privacy issues.  For his work with the government, Eric received numerous awards and commendations from federal agencies, including the FBI, Secret Service, IRS, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Eric is an active member of the legal community and committed to pro bono work.  He served as Co-Chair of the ABA White Collar Crime Committee for Southern California.  He currently serves on the board of the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, which provides direct representation to survivors of domestic violence and families in crises, and he was previously a board member for the Federal Bar Association of Los Angeles.

Eric graduated from UCLA School of Law, Order of the Coif.  After law school, he clerked for the Honorable A. Howard Matz, United States District Judge, Central District of California.