Theodore J Kobus III

Ted has been a leader, mentor and counsellor in the digital risk space for over 15 years. He has earned authority in the areas of privacy, data security and cybersecurity, leading clients to entrust him and his attorneys with more than 10,000 data breach responses. Businesses, government and other organizations turn to Ted for sound advice on compliance, developing response strategies, breaches implicating domestic and international laws, and defense of both class action litigation and regulatory actions. Ted leads the fastest growing practice group at the firm, the Digital Assets and Data Management Practice Group, which was formed in January 2020 and focuses on the data lifecycle.

Notably, he has developed key relationships with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he and his team have helped to establish protocols to protect corporate victims following a data breach. He knows the most proactive regulators involved in this space and interacts with them regularly.

Ted has led the defense to hundreds of regulatory investigations, including those brought by the Attorney General Multi-State, Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, Departments of Insurance, SEC and FTC. In the healthcare space, Ted has defended more than 300 OCR investigations and has negotiated more privacy/security-related resolution agreements than any other lawyer.

Under his leadership, the DADM group has garnered ongoing recognition from industry heavyweights such as BTI, Law360, ALM, Vault and others. Ted also provides pertinent quotes and contributions when contacted by major media outlets who are looking for the latest news and trends in privacy and data security. Ted has spoken at the National Association of Attorneys General on data security issues in a closed session, as well as the National Security Cyber Specialist’s Training Conference organized by the DOJ.

Ted is the firmwide chair of BakerHostetler’s Digital Assets and Data Management Group and as of January 2023 is serving his third three-year term on the firm's Policy Committee.