Amelia M. Gerlicher
Amelia is an experienced and practical data security and incident response lawyer helping clients address privacy and data security risks throughout their organizations.
Amelia Gerlicher counsels clients in the areas of incident response, data security compliance, and online platform user protection and enforcement. Clients ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies rely on Amelia to advise on incidents of all kinds, assess risks, develop response strategies, improve compliance with legal obligations, and address regulatory and litigation fallout. Her deep knowledge of legal requirements and expectations supports efficient and nuanced advice for clients across a variety of industries.
Amelia also advises clients on how to prepare for an incident, improve security governance, and comply with the increasingly complex web of legal requirements applicable to data security and personal information. She uses technical knowledge and understanding of each client’s objectives to craft practical and scalable security programs. She also represents clients such as Meta, defending against illegal spamming, scraping, data misuse, harassment, and other forms of malicious behavior that interfere with client websites.
Amelia’s active pro bono practice has included helping a nonprofit develop resources to educate victims of nonconsensual pornography on their legal options, representing immigrants seeking asylum before the immigration court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and serving as class-action counsel for 30,000 Arizona prisoners seeking constitutional medical care and conditions of confinement.
Education & Credentials
Education
- Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, Executive Editor, Jurimetrics Journal
- Harvard University, A.B., Social Studies, cum laude
Bar and Court Admissions
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Washington
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Arizona
- U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Related Employment
- Arizona State University Civil Justice Clinic, Tempe, AZ, Student Attorney, 2005
- Brown & Bain, P.A., Summer Associate, 2004
- Whatcom County Public Defender's Office, Bellingham, WA, Intern, 2003
Clerkships
- Hon. Rebecca Berch, Supreme Court of Arizona
- Hon. Anna Baca, Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Professional Recognition
Recognized by Cybersecurity Docket "Incident Response 50," Best Data Breach Response Lawyers Worldwide, 2023-2024
Listed in Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers, 2024
Recognized by Arizona Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star," 2014
Impact
Professional Leadership
- Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
- American Bar Association, Science & Technology Section
- State Bar of Arizona, E-Commerce & Technology and Appellate Sections, Council Member, 2013
- Arizona Women Lawyers Association
- Harvard Club of Phoenix, Board of Directors, 2007-2013; Schools & Scholarship Committee, 2002-2014
- Harvard Club of Seattle, Schools & Scholarship Committee, 2015-present
Insights
News
Professional Experience
Privacy and Security
Internet Enforcement—Facebook
Ongoing management of a complete enforcement program for Facebook Inc. to enforce its Terms of Use; prosecute spammers, hackers and phishers; and to investigate and refer illegal behavior to law enforcement.
Security Breach Response
Provide counsel to numerous clients on the legal requirements following a data breach incidents, including the need for and content of consumer and regulator notifications, investigation and public relations. Advise on creation and modification of incident response plans. Supervise the maintenance of the security breach notification laws chart, which surveys the state laws that require notification in the event of security breaches involving the loss of personal data.
Privacy Counseling
Provide counsel to clients on a variety of issues surrounding the collection and use of personal data, including compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Red Flag Rules, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), CAN-SPAM, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Federal Trade Commission guidance and statute statutory and common law requirements. Draft privacy policies conforming to companies’ data practices and applicable legal requirements.
Johnson v. Arizona Office Technologies, et al.
Represents AOT and its employees in a dispute over e-mail privacy under the Electronic Communications Act, the Stored Communications Act, and state privacy law.
Litigation
Move, Inc. v. Zillow, Inc.
Superior Court of Washington, King County
Represented the defendant Zillow in an employment-related unfair competition / trade secret case against its largest competitor in which the plaintiffs sought approximately $2 billion in damages. After the Court dismissed more than $1 billion of plaintiffs’ claimed damages, found in favor of Zillow on allegations of spoliation, and granted several of the client’s motions for partial summary judgment including dismissal of most of plaintiffs’ tort-based claims, case settled on what was scheduled to be the first day of trial.
Hoffman v. Pet360, Inc.
Superior Court of New Jersey, Bergen County
Obtained dismissal with prejudice of consumer protection and privacy class action complaint. No. BER-L-19308-14 (N.J. Super. 2014).
Shareholder Derivative Actions
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Counsel for publicly traded company in derivative action alleging misrepresentations in financial statements relating to alleged improper backdating of stock options. Judgment of dismissal.
Marlyn Nutraceuticals Inc. v. Mucos Pharma GmbH & Company
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Represented Marlyn Nutraceuticals in complex dispute involving issues of trademark infringement and breach of contract, and successfully settled case during pendency of summary judgment motions.
Appellate, Constitutional and Political Law
Parsons v. Ryan
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Counsel for 33,000 prisoners in a class action claiming that the Arizona Department of Corrections provides constitutionally inadequate medical, mental health and dental care and unconstitutional conditions of confinement.
City of El Mirage v. City of Glendale
Appellate counsel for El Mirage. The case concerned Glendale's alleged failure to comply with Arizona's Open Meeting Law in adopting a zoning ordinance. The Court of Appeals held that the challenge was untimely. No. 1 CA-CV 07-0209 (2008)
Fulkerson v. Prescott Valley, et al.
Superior Court of Arizona, Yavapai County
Counsel for the Town of Prescott Valley in a constitutional challenge to its financing and accounting practices involving revenue bonds. Plaintiffs challenged over 10 years of funding, jeopardizing significant Town projects. The court granted the Town's motions to dismiss, finding that the Town's practices complied with the Arizona constitutional provisions regarding town debt, bond elections, and public gifts. (2007 - 2008)
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. v. O2 Micro Int'l Ltd.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Successfully defended lawsuit alleging that Monolithic infringed a patent on power management techniques for cold-cathode fluorescent lamps used in laptop computers and other devices. The Federal Circuit affirmed the jury's verdict that all the asserted claims were obvious and held that the trial court properly appointed an independent expert to testify regarding infringement and validity. The victory also resulted in vacatur of the judgment for O2 Micro in a separate case where the jury had found a Monolithic customer liable for infringing the same patent. 558 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2009)
Solando v. Holder
Pro bono representation before the immigration court, The Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit on behalf of a homosexual immigrant in poor health claiming relief under the convention against torture.