Zach Watterson
Associate
Overview
Zachary Watterson is a privacy attorney and commercial litigator in Holland & Knight's San Francisco office. Mr. Watterson has experience prosecuting and defending clients in a variety of disputes, including privacy and data security, election and political law, white collar crime, sports, media and entertainment, and general business litigation. He has represented some of the largest banking and financial institutions, elected officials, burgeoning cryptocurrency and blockchain companies, and professional sports franchises.
Mr. Watterson focuses his litigation practice on the defense of clients in consumer class and individual actions, including privacy, data breach, false advertising, unfair business practices, breach of contract, and call recording and website wiretap claims.
In addition, Mr. Watterson counsels public and private companies on the adoption and implementation of comprehensive data privacy programs to operationalize the requirements of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and other analogous state privacy statues and legislation.
Mr. Watterson is highly committed to pro bono representation and enhancing the civil rights of all Americans. Mr. Watterson has represented indigent criminal defendants as well as certified classes of individuals seeking to protect their First Amendment privileges. Mr. Watterson has extensive experience at both the trial and appellate level in election law litigation enhancing voting rights.
While in law school, Mr. Watterson was a legal intern with the sports cable and television company Pac-12 Networks. Mr. Watterson drafted talent and independent contractor agreements and assisted in the Pac-12 Networks' efforts to enforce and protect its trademark and copyright materials.
Representative Experience
- Represent a healthcare provider in class action alleging violations of state wiretap statue based on client's alleged use of third-party website advertising and analytics tools (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana)
- Represent a leading sports promotion company in several class actions alleging violations of state auto-renewal statute (U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada)
- Defend a multinational software company in multiple data breach class actions involving employee and consumer data (U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
- Represented a defendant in the first class action data breach settlement under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)
- Defended a doctor criminally charged with being involved in a Medicare kickback scheme and successfully obtained an acquittal on all counts after a three-week trial (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)
- Represented a certified class in their appeal of a grant of qualified immunity to the Phoenix Police Department (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit)
- Represented a National Basketball Association (NBA) head coach in his breach of contract dispute with his former agent (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)
- Represented Missouri voters in a week-long trial challenging several Missouri election laws and voting procedures (23rd Judicial Circuit, Jefferson County, Missouri)
- Defeated breach of contract claims on summary judgment in a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit against a beverage company (Superior Court of California, San Francisco County)
- Advise clients on the adoption and implementation of data privacy programs in light of evolving laws and regulations, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- Counsel clients on risk mitigation with respect to the use of third-party advertising and analytics cookies and tools on digital properties
- Advise clients on information governance and records retention, including updates to record retention procedures and legal holds processes
- Counsel business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) entities in the immediate aftermath of data breach and other security incidents (ransomware, wire fraud and phishing, among others), including insurance and vendor issues, remediation, forensic investigation, required notifications and law enforcement considerations
- Created privacy policies for a leading National Football League (NFL) franchise, professional sports leagues, and some of the largest banking and financial institutions
Credentials
- Stanford Law School, J.D.
- Rice University, B.A., History, Political Science, Policy Studies, cum laude
- California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation (SPILF), Stanford Law School, Vice President, 2016-2019
- Stanford National Security and the Law Society (SNSLS), Stanford Law School, 2016-2019
- Stanford Entertainment and Sports Law Association (SESLA), Stanford Law School, 2016-2019
- Religious Liberty Clinic, Stanford Law School, Spring 2018
- Baker Institute Student Forum (BISF), Rice University, Vice President, 2014-2015
- Scholar Athlete of the Year, Rice University, 2014, 2015
- Larry Nettles Leadership Award, Rice University, 2015
- "R" Association J. Fred Duckett Postgraduate Scholarship, Rice University, 2015
- Graham C. Stebbings College Service Award, Rice University, 2015
- Spanish