Megan L. Brown

Megan Co-Chairs the firm’s Privacy, Cyber & Data Governance practice. She and her team advise global clients and associations on new cybersecurity and data governance regulations, and best practices and standards, including incident reporting obligations and baseline operational mandates. She represents corporations in complex agency investigations and Congressional inquiries about cyber and network security.

Megan helps organizations engage in implementation of Executive Orders (AI, cybersecurity, data transfers, post-quantum cryptography, and more) and proceedings at the CISA, FCC, FTC, DOJ, Commerce, and NIST, as well as in the states. She is leading a legal challenge to a TSA cybersecurity directive, has led advocacy in Congress, and testified before the U.S. Senate.

As a former senior Department of Justice official, Megan helps clients navigate the Executive Branch and helps with national security issues. She serves on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Cybersecurity Leadership Council, is a Senior Fellow at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School’s National Security Institute, co-hosted a cybersecurity podcast with American University’s School of Public Service and CrowdStrike, and serves on the Board of the Women’s High-Tech Coalition.

Representative Matters

Incident Response, Counseling, and Compliance

• Manages cybersecurity events, including ransomware attacks and negotiations.
• Advises public and private companies on incident reporting, data security, and cybersecurity governance and disclosures, including compliance with new mandates across critical infrastructure.
• Advises federal contractors on cybersecurity obligations, supply chain, and software security.
• Advises manufacturers and technology companies on vulnerability disclosure policies and the handling of identified vulnerabilities, including with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the Department of Homeland Security.
• Advises boards and senior management about data governance and emerging technologies, from AI to IoT, including geopolitical risk to business operations, via tabletop exercises and counseling.
• Represents private equity and investors in regulatory review of multi-billion dollar transactions in the telecom and technology sectors.
• Counsels clients on CFIUS and Team Telecom obligations, national security agreements, and letters of agreement.

Enforcement and Investigations

• Successfully resolved a multi-year, multi-jurisdiction FCC investigation into a national wireless carrier over multiple public data security incidents.
• Manages numerous FCC investigations into equipment regulation, supply chain, accessibility, and other regulatory issues.
• Represents organizations and individuals in Congressional inquiries and investigations.

Regulatory Advocacy and Litigation

• Represents companies and associations in proceedings before the FTC, FCC, CISA, SEC, Commerce, and DoD addressing incident reporting, data governance, privacy, internet routing security, federal procurement obligations, and more.
• Leading a challenge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to cybersecurity directives issued by the Transportation Security Agency, in Grand Trunk Railroad Corp. and Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. TSA (Nos. 24-2109, 24-2156, 7th Cir.)
• Supports judicial review of agency decisions and litigation over cybersecurity and privacy regulatory actions and claims. This includes briefing for the United States Chamber of Commerce and other clients in cases like NetChoice v. Bonta, No. 23-2969 (9th Cir.), involving California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code, X-Corp. v. Bonta, No. 24-271 (9th Cir.), involving the constitutionality of a California social-media regulation law, and Popa v. PSP Group LLC, No. 24-14 (9th Cir.), a privacy class action over the use of session replay technology. It also includes briefing in challenges to FCC actions under Jarkesy and Loper-Bright.

Professional Experience

• Appellate Courts Judicial Nominating Commission for Montgomery County, Maryland (2020-2024) (Gubernatorial Appointee)
• Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission for Montgomery County, Maryland (2015-2019) (Gubernatorial Appointee)
• Counsel to the Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice (2007-2008)
• Legal Intern, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General (2002)
• Legal Intern, Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division (2000)
• Provides commentary on a wide range of issues to media, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Legal, the National Law Journal, and CNN and Fox News.
• Testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband, on Protecting Americans From Robocalls (October 24, 2023).

Affiliations

• Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA)
  • Co-Chair, FCBA Foundation Board of Trustees (2020)
  • Member, FCBA Foundation Board of Trustees (2018-2021)
• American Bar Association (ABA)
• Board Member, Women's High Tech Coalition (WHTC)
• Senior Fellow, National Security Institute’s Cybersecurity Law & Policy Program, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
• Member, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Cybersecurity Leadership Council

Recognitions

• Listed by Chambers USA as a "Recognized Practitioner" (2019) in Privacy & Data Security
• Named to Law360's Cybersecurity & Privacy Editorial Advisory Board (2018, 2019)
• Named a "DC Rising Star" by The National Law Journal (2017)
• Recognized by Law360 as a "Rising Star" in Technology (2014) and Telecommunications (2017)
• Recognized as one of the nation's top Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Trailblazers by The National Law Journal (2016)
• Named by The Legal 500 US as a "recommended lawyer" in Telecom and Broadcast Regulatory Law (2012-2013) and Supreme Court and Appellate Law (2015)
• Named a DC "Super Lawyers" (2014-2016, 2020) and "Rising Star" (2013) for Appellate by Super Lawyers magazine
• Included in The Best Lawyers in America directory for Appellate Law (2023-2025), Privacy and Data Security Law (2022-2025), and Communications Law (2025)
• Named one of “Washington’s Top Lawyers” by Washingtonian magazine (2024)