Shane M. McGee, Partner

Mr. McGee is an attorney in the Internet, Communications & Data Protection Group of Sonnenschein's Washington, D.C. office.  His practice includes counseling companies on a wide range of data security, privacy, electronic discovery, records retention, anti-piracy and transactional issues.  Mr. McGee also manages Sonnenschein's Investigations, Computer forensics and Electronic discovery (ICE) lab, and utilizes that resource to conduct internal and external investigations, and to help his clients respond to discovery requests and subpoenas requesting electronic information.  Finally, Mr. McGee helps clients create, implement, and maintain programs to protect valuable intellectual property, and litigates against infringers where necessary.

Mr. McGee counsels clients on a number of issues involving information technology systems and the internet, including incident prevention and response; identifying and mitigating liability for unsecured systems; and regulatory compliance.  Mr. McGee's privacy experience includes auditing websites and other information portals for several of the nation's largest companies; responding to official FTC inquiries regarding companies' privacy policies and practices; and negotiating settlements with the FTC for alleged violations of privacy policies.  His information security experience includes drafting data security policies of all types, responding to security breaches, and advising clients on how and when to notify customers when a security breach occurs.  Mr. McGee also negotiates, drafts and revises customer and B2B agreements of all types, including EULAs, Terms of Service and other contracts.

Mr. McGee has a strong background in computers and the Internet, including working as a programmer, consultant and instructor.  He received his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati in 1998, where he was a student articles editor for the University of Cincinnati Law Review.  Mr. McGee was admitted to the Bars in North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and D.C. Mr. McGee has served on the International Trademark Association’s (INTA) Special Committee on the Internet and Meetings Committee.

His publications include Developments in Information Security Law, publication for AICCI 2004 Meeting (co-authored with Christian Genetski), Liability for Unsecured Computer Systems, a White Paper for Corporate Counsel's Directory of Top 250 Companies, American Lawyer Media, December, 2003 (coauthored with Marc Zwillinger) , Cooling Off the Hot-News Exception: NBA v. Motorola, 66 U. Cin. Rev. 1019 (1997); …or I’ll Take My Toys and Go Home: The Iran Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, 20 Hous. J. Int’l L. 111 (1997); and Trailblazing Internet Legislation in Virginia, as co-author in the June 1999 issue of Cyberspace Lawyer. 

Mr. McGee’s speaking engagements include the following:

• Panelist, “The Legality of ‘Rogue’ Bots in Virtual Worlds; A Discussion of Blizzard v. MDY” webinar sponsored by The American Bar Association Section of Science and Technology Law, October 27, 2009.
• Panelist, “Footprints In Cyberspace: Following Consumers Online” at the CMJ Entertainment Business Law Seminar, The Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, October 23, 2009.
• Panelist, “Avoid the Metagame Trap: Understanding a Game Operator's Responsibilities” at the Digital Law Conference, San Jose, CA, September 24, 2009.
• Panelist, “Advanced Advertising: ‘It’s About Time’ or ‘Don’t You Dare Track Me!’” at the RSA Conference, San Francisco, CA, April 24, 2009.   
•  Panelist, “The Rules of Play: Copyright and Fair Use in Machinima” at the Play-Machinima-Law Conference 2009, Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Law School, April 24, 2009.
•  Presenter, "e-Discovery: The New Rules of the Road for Evidence Gathering and Protection" at FinSec (Financial Security) Conference, New York, NY, December 4, 2008.
• Presenter, “You found what? Where? How many Gigs? Electronic Discovery Tips, Tricks and Pitfalls” at the PwC General Counsel Forum in Chicago (November 20 and 21, 2008). 
• Presenter, “Social Networking and Behavioral Advertising” and “Damages for Data Loss” for CLE for client legal staff in Austin, TX (November 19, 2008).
•  Panelist,  PLI panel on Technotainment; "Second Life: The Virtual World with Real Opportunities and Real Issues, San Francisco (September 17, 2008).
• Panelist, PLI panel on Technotainment; "Second Life: The Virtual World with Real Opportunities and Real Issues, New York (September 3, 2008).
• Panelist, ISSA CISO Executive Forum Panel on Forensics in Virginia (May 2008).
• Presenter, Virtual Worlds 2008 Conference and Expo (April 2008).
• Presenter, “Handling an FTC Investigation Following a Data Breach” at CSI’s NetSec conference in Phoenix (June 2007).
• Presenter, Liability for Unsecured Systems, Computer Security Institute (CSI) conference in Scottsdale (2006).
• Panelist, Information Security issues at the Intix conference in Chicago (2006).
• Panelist, eWeek Security Summit in Chicago (September 2004).
• Presenter, Information Security Issues, Cadre Security Conference & Expo in Cincinnati (2004).
• Panelist, Email Security Summit in Washington, D.C. (2004).
• Presenter, Information Security Issues, internal client legal and technical staff in Ft. Lauderdale (2004).
• Presenter, Information Security Issues, Cybercrime Conference in Chicago (2003).