Bethany Lobo

Bethany is an experienced litigator who handles cases from pleading stage to appeal for companies facing high-value business model challenges. Her practice includes defense of companies facing artificial intelligence, biometrics, data breach, cybersecurity and other consumer class actions, as well as other cyberlaw litigation. She has litigated successfully for prominent companies including OpenAI, Coinbase, Zoom, Facebook, Oculus, eBay, Niantic, Turo, Snap, Verra Mobility and King.com. Bethany is a partner in Cooley’s cyber/data/privacy practice group, which has been recognized repeatedly by Law360 as Privacy Practice of the Year, and is a member of the firm’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force. 

In addition to her litigation practice, Bethany is experienced in counseling social media and other technology companies on a diverse array of cyber, data and privacy issues, including data scraping, wiretapping (e.g., session replay, chatbot, pixel, and trap and trace issues), biometrics, incident response, and enforcement of online terms of service.

From October 2017 through February 2018, Bethany served as a prosecutor in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office as part of a firm-sponsored program. She had sole responsibility for three trials, and she secured jury verdicts for the prosecution in all of them.

Bethany is active in the San Francisco Bay Area legal community, where she has served on the privacy law committee of the California Lawyers Association, on the board of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA-NC), and as co-chair of the endorsements committee for SABA-NC. She also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on asylum and immigration law.

Before joining Cooley, Bethany served as a law clerk to Judge Consuelo Callahan of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and now-retired Judge James Ware of the US District Court for the Northern District of California. She previously worked as a litigation associate in the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster representing clients involved in internet and other technology disputes in trial and appellate proceedings.

Publications

• Co-author of "Litigation & Regulator Actions: California Supreme Court Boosts Policyholders Seeking Coverage for Privacy Class Actions," c/d/p Insights, January 2023
• Co-author of “Second Circuit Rules Individuals Have Standing to Sue for ‘Increased Risk’ of Identity Theft,” Cooley alert, April 30, 2021
• Co-author of “California Voters Pass the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020,” Cooley cyber/data/privacy insights, November 4, 2020
• Co-author of “LinkedIn Data Scraping Case Shows 9th Circ. Shift on CFAA,” Cooley cyber/data/privacy insights, November 5, 2019
• Co-author of “Nevada Privacy Law Gives Consumers Right to Opt Out of Sale of Personal Information, Following California’s Lead in CCPA,” Cooley cyber/data/privacy insights, June 12, 2019 

Speaking Engagements

• Panelist for “Top Things You Should Know About AI, Biometrics and Privacy,” 2022 Association of Corporate Counsel New York City Technology Summit, July 13, 2022
• Panelist for “Biometrics: Litigation, Legislative and Regulatory Trends in 2022,” LexisNexis webinar, June 29, 2022
• Panelist for Cooley’s 2022 Fintech Forum, June 7, 2022 
• Panelist for “Preparing for Litigation in the Era of COVID-19,” Cooley webinar, July 9, 2020
• Panelist for “CCPA Litigation Is Here – Are You Ready?” Cooley webinar, June 30, 2020

Panelist for “Creating Data-Powered Products and Services in the Age of Privacy,” Cooley event, June 5, 2019