Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that Rachel M. Reid has joined as partner in the firm’s Atlanta office, where she will practice as part of its Corporate and Insurance practice groups. As a business-oriented attorney with extensive in-house experience, including as a chief privacy officer for nearly a decade, Ms. Reid will support clients in critical areas of data privacy and security, corporate governance, risk management, operations, complex commercial transactions, technology transactions and outsourcing. Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland, Ms. Reid was most recently SVP, Deputy General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer at Voya Financial (formerly ING US), where she joined as senior counsel in 2009. 

“I am so pleased to welcome Rachel back to the firm, following her nearly two decades of distinguished in-house work that led to roles of increasing leadership and responsibility,” said Mark D. Wasserman, Co-CEO of Eversheds Sutherland. “Rachel’s varied experience managing numerous legal functions will be a great asset to our Corporate and Insurance practice groups in advising our clients on many of their most important transactions and regulatory matters.”

Ms. Reid’s legal career includes experience leading high-growth companies through complex regulatory environments and acquisitions, while providing guidance to senior leaders in large, global public companies, including members of the C-Suite and the Board of Directors.

Ms. Reid has considerable leadership experience in the areas of data privacy and data security. As chief privacy officer, she had overall responsibility for the privacy function across the enterprise, including advising senior management and the board on privacy risk and proactive privacy measures and developing and implementing long-term privacy strategy, including policies, procedures and training, and managing risk evaluation and mitigation efforts.

Ms. Reid also advised senior management on cybersecurity strategy and initiatives, provided legal advice on security incident response activities and advised regulated entities, including insurance and investment management companies, on legal and regulatory requirements in the areas of privacy and data security.

Across her in-house roles, Ms. Reid has been responsible for providing enterprise-wide legal advice and support in the areas of data governance, information technology, outsourcing, vendor management, procurement, IP, marketing, e-commerce, payments-related technologies and social media. She also has substantial experience with corporate governance matters, including public company reporting, annual proxy solicitation, shareholder meetings and related functions.

“Rachel is a highly-respected corporate attorney who has built her career as a trusted adviser on topics and issues that are critical to the functioning of complex organizations,” said Robert J. Pile, Global Co-Lead of Eversheds Sutherland’s Corporate Practice Group. “We are thrilled that our clients will soon benefit from her proven skills and multifaceted experiences.”

“As entities operating within the insurance industry continue to address new opportunities and challenges that arise from increasing digitization and the adoption of new technologies, Rachel can support our clients in navigating an increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment and making important strategic decisions related to their transformative matters and initiatives,” said Bert Adams and Ling Ling, Co-Practice Group Leaders of the Eversheds Sutherland (US) Insurance Group.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Rachel is joining our team. She will be an invaluable resource to our clients, their leadership and boards on the ever-evolving risks and opportunities in cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as on Artificial Intelligence and other revolutionary technologies,” said Michael Bahar, Co-Leader of the Eversheds Sutherland global Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice.

Prior to Voya, she held a chief counsel role at McKesson Corp.

Ms. Reid began her legal career as an Associate at Eversheds Sutherland in Atlanta.