William Ridgway

William E. Ridgway is co-head of Skadden’s global Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice. He is a former federal prosecutor with extensive trial and investigations experience who advises companies on their most sensitive cybersecurity, data privacy and white collar matters. Mr. Ridgway has been recognized as a leading lawyer for crisis management, cybersecurity, data privacy and high-stakes white collar matters by several industry outlets. He regularly leads the defense of investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, state attorneys general, the California Privacy Protection Agency and other U.S. and foreign regulators. These investigations frequently involve matters related to cybersecurity and data privacy, artificial intelligence, the False Claims Act, financial fraud and trade secret theft.

Mr. Ridgway has led the incident response and associated investigations for some of the most high-profile cybersecurity incidents in recent years, and his clients include financial institutions; technology, energy, insurance and health care companies; defense contractors; data brokers; and e-commerce retailers. He also often leads privacy and data security investigations and litigations around the country.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Illinois, 2008-2016.

JD, Stanford Law School, 2006 (with distinction; Articles Editor, Stanford Law Review); BS, Stanford University, 2003 (with distinction).