Kathleen McConnell

Kathleen McConnell is Senior Counsel in the San Francisco office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  Her practice focuses on data analytics, electronic discovery, information governance, and data privacy. As Chair, eDiscovery Analytics Strategy (OSA), her work in spearheading Seyfarth’s use of data analytics in litigation and counseling matters has contributed to keeping Seyfarth on the cutting edge of the legal practice. Her innovative work in this area has enabled the firm to obtain favorable settlements for clients, reduce significant areas of potential liability, and undermine class certification arguments.

In addition, she regularly advises clients on developing cost-effective strategies for the preservation, collection, review, and production of electronically stored information, including for cross-border matters. She also counsels clients on record retention and information governance.

Ms. McConnell has extensive litigation, trial, and arbitration experience in a broad range of substantive areas, including class actions, labor and employment, e-commerce, antitrust, consumer protection, copyright, patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation, false advertising, contract and other commercial disputes, business torts, real estate, appellate matters, bankruptcy, director and officer representation, debtor representation, employment, ADA access, construction, and public entity litigation.

Since 2007, Ms. McConnell has focused a significant amount of her litigation practice on  eDiscovery and related matters. Her eDiscovery litigation experience has ranged from cases involving a small number of data points and custodians to complex matters involving several hundred individuals and complicated database and storage environments.

Ms. McConnell has presented and published on numerous eDiscovery, analytics, privacy, and information governance topics including: the future of analytical strategies; using data analysis to find hidden information; the effect of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence on eDiscovery; preparing for GDPR compliance; best practices for legal holds, document preservation, and collection; efficient use of case management tools; and strategies for reducing eDiscovery-related costs.

She is a member of the San Francisco Chapter of Women in eDiscovery and the British American Business Council.  She is committed to serving the community through pro bono work. Her contributions in this area have been recognized on several occasions, including by The Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco as she was a recipient of its Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service Award for 2013 and 2010.

Education:

• J.D., University of California, Hastings College of the Law (2005)
• B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara (2001)