Cooley Reinforces Leading Privacy Practice for Major Tech Companies

Washington, DC – May 19, 2026 – Cooley today announced that Meredith Halama has joined the firm as a partner in its global cyber/data/privacy group. She and her colleague Katie Cramer, who is also joining Cooley, are among the industry’s foremost leaders in the application of consumer privacy laws to advertising technology.

Together, Meredith and Katie enhance the litigation department’s cyber/data/privacy practice, which is already recognized as among the industry’s best, and reinforce its capabilities to serve major technology companies. Meredith and Katie will reside in the firm’s Washington, DC, and Denver offices, respectively.

“Cooley has long had one of the best privacy and cybersecurity practices for counseling, defense of government investigations and privacy class actions. Meredith and Katie significantly expand our counseling practice by contributing their exceptional experience in ad tech,” said Ian Shapiro, partner and chair of Cooley’s global litigation department. “They are already the primary privacy advisors to many of the world’s major technology companies. Upon their arrival, we expect them to become the same for many more Cooley clients and to collaborate with Cooley’s litigators in the defense of federal and state privacy investigations and privacy class actions.”

Meredith and Katie join Cooley from Perkins Coie, where Meredith was co-chair of the firm’s privacy and security practice. She has advised clients on privacy and ad tech for more than 20 years. Merdith served as the deputy general counsel and director of policy and compliance for the Network Advertising Initiative, the industry trade group for online advertising, prior to joining Perkins Coie.

“Meredith and Katie practice at the intersection of law, technology and commercialization – the DNA of the modern economy. They are a perfect fit for Cooley, where we represent the most innovative companies in the world,” said Travis LeBlanc, partner and co-chair of Cooley’s global cyber/data/privacy practice. “Their arrival immediately elevates the solutions we can, and will, deliver to our clients.”

“I’m excited to join Cooley’s premier privacy and data security group and the broader Cooley practice,” said Halama. “As companies confront intensifying scrutiny around their data practices, particularly with respect to marketing to consumers, and the industry continues to shift into AI-driven products, there is a growing need for practical, forward-looking guidance that enables growth while managing legal and reputational risk. Cooley’s strength in the tech sector and deep experience defending companies in privacy- and advertising-related regulatory and class action matters make it an ideal platform from which to deliver that counsel. I’m also looking forward to partnering with Cooley’s deep bench of premier privacy litigators to defend clients in the growing flood of claims and investigations concerning their practices involving the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for advertising purposes.”  

Cooley’s global litigation department includes more than 500 lawyers in the US and Europe and is the leading litigation department for the representation of technology, life sciences and other innovative companies. Cooley has added numerous elite, next-generation lawyers to its litigation department throughout the US, including, since 2025, Elizabeth Prelogar, Raymond Tolentino, Ephraim McDowell, Brian Nelson and Janet Kim in DC; Simona Agnolucci, Ben Hur, Jonathan Patchen, Eduardo Santacana, Joshua Anderson and Tiffany Lin in San Francisco; Michael Rome and Brian Klein in Los Angeles; Lyndsey Kruzer in Boston; and James Kim, Tejal Shah and Sean Quinn in New York.

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