Left to right: Ryan Ball, Richard Grabowski, and John Vogt.
Goodwin today announced that a market-leading team of three cybersecurity, privacy, and technology litigation partners, Richard Grabowski, John Vogt, and Ryan Ball, have joined the firm to establish its new office in Newport Beach, California. Collectively, the trio brings highly regarded litigation practices focused on cybersecurity, privacy, technology, trade secrets, and consumer financial services.
“Richard, John, and Ryan are leading the way in the cybersecurity and privacy litigation space,” said Anthony McCusker, Chair of Goodwin. “They join the Goodwin team with a clear goal: to further strengthen and elevate the leading cybersecurity, privacy, and technology litigation practice globally. Their elite trial, investigations and litigation skills combined with our industry-immersed strategy are a powerful combination that is unique in the market.”
The team brings extensive experience in defending companies in class actions, regulatory investigations, and complex commercial disputes involving trade secrets, licensing agreements, privacy violations, unfair business practices, and other consumer protection claims. The team has twice received the Daily Journal’s “Top Defense Verdict” of the year in California. In 2023, they led the defense of one of the largest data breach cases ever to proceed to trial, successfully prevailing in an issue of first impression that led to the complete dismissal of the case. In 2021, the team obtained summary judgment in a high-stakes trade secrets dispute involving the development of complex loss forecast models.
“Adding John, Richard, and Ryan’s caliber of cybersecurity and privacy expertise to the firm is a game changer,” said Caroline Bullerjahn, co-chair of Goodwin’s Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice. “Our industry immersion in technology, healthcare, life sciences, and private equity means we’re already embedded where privacy and data protection issues matter most. This addition brings that same depth to our consumer financial services practice, which is already among the strongest in the industry. The team’s deep industry knowledge combined with their courtroom excellence is the winning formula to build something truly exceptional.”
“We chose Goodwin because it offers something unique in the market – a platform that combines legal excellence with deep industry immersion across the sectors where privacy and cybersecurity matter most,” said John Vogt. “The collaborative culture here, where lawyers genuinely win as a team, creates the environment we need to serve our clients as true business partners.”
Ryan Ball added, “Goodwin’s strategic focus on being insiders to our clients’ businesses will enable us to expand our practices in ways that simply aren’t possible at any other firm. Goodwin is the ideal platform to achieve our ambition of building the world’s leading cybersecurity and privacy litigation practice.”
The new office in Newport Beach establishes Goodwin’s presence in one of Southern California’s most dynamic business corridors and a significant hub for technology-related disputes. The new office expands the firm’s West Coast footprint alongside its existing offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Silicon Valley.
Richard Grabowski has served as lead counsel in more than 100 federal and state consumer class actions and regularly leads parallel investigations by the FTC, CFPB, and state attorneys general, achieving large-scale resolutions and precedent-setting outcomes in complex consumer and data matters. John Vogt is a nationally recognized leader in cybersecurity and privacy litigation, with more than 25 years of experience defending hundreds of nationwide class actions involving data breaches, tracking technologies, wiretap statutes, biometric and dark-pattern claims, mass arbitration, and regulatory enforcement. Ryan Ball represents public and private companies in complex litigation and government investigations nationwide and is at the forefront of major cybersecurity and consumer matters involving data breaches, tracking technologies, and emerging privacy statutes, including nationwide class actions, mass arbitrations, and coordinated regulatory proceedings.
Goodwin’s global Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice represents clients across all industries in their most critical disputes, from bet-the-company trials to regulatory enforcement actions. The practice is known for its industry-immersed approach, combining deep sector knowledge with elite trial skills.