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Jim Garland

Jim Garland’s practice focuses on government investigations and enforcement matters, litigation, and cybersecurity. Recognized by Chambers USA as a leading practitioner in both the white collar and cybersecurity categories, Jim draws upon his experience as a former senior Justice Department official to advise clients on sensitive, multidimensional disputes and investigations, often with national security implications. He previously served as co-chair of Covington’s “Band 1”-ranked White Collar and Investigations Practice Group and currently is a member of the firm’s Management and Executive Committees.

Jim regularly represents corporate and individual clients in government investigations and enforcement actions. He has successfully handled matters involving allegations of economic espionage, theft of trade secrets, terrorism-financing, sanctions and export control violations, money laundering, foreign bribery, public corruption, fraud, and obstruction of justice. He has particular expertise advising clients in connection with investigations and disputes involving electronic surveillance and law enforcement access to digital evidence.

Jim has substantial experience litigating high-stakes, multidimensional disputes for clients across a range of industries, including companies in the high-tech, financial services, defense, transportation, media and entertainment, and life sciences sectors. Many of his civil representations have substantial cross-border dimensions or involve parallel government enforcement proceedings in multiple forums.

In conjunction with his investigations and litigation practice, Jim regularly assists clients with cybersecurity preparedness and incident-response matters. He helps clients in assessing security controls and in developing policies and procedures for the protection of sensitive corporate data. He also regularly assists companies in responding to significant cybersecurity incidents, including in connection with criminal and state-sponsored attacks targeting customer and employee data, financial information, and trade secrets.

From 2009 to 2010, Jim served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to Attorney General Eric Holder at the U.S. Department of Justice. In that role, he advised the Attorney General on a range of enforcement issues, with an emphasis on criminal, cybersecurity, and surveillance matters.

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On September 12, 2022, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) published a Request for Information, seeking public comment on how to structure implementing regulations for reporting requirements under the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“CIRCIA”).  Written comments are requested on or before November 14, 2022 and may be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.Continue Reading CISA Requests Public Comment on Implementing Regulations for the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act

Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, a bill that would require tech companies to assist law enforcement in executing search warrants that seek encrypted data.  The bill would apply to law enforcement efforts to obtain data at rest as well as data in motion.  It would also apply to both criminal and national security legal process.  This proposal comes in the wake of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s December 2019 hearing on encryption and lawful access to data.  According to its sponsors, the purpose of the bill is to “end[] the use of ‘warrant-proof’ encrypted technology . . . to conceal illicit behavior.”
Continue Reading Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act Introduced

In a decision that defines how the Fourth Amendment applies to information collected in the digital age, the Supreme Court today held that police must use a warrant to obtain from a cell phone company records that detail the location and movements of a cell phone user.  The opinion in Carpenter v. United States limits the application of the third-party doctrine, holding that a warrant is required when an individual “has a legitimate privacy interest in records held by a third party.”

The 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, emphasizes the sensitivity of cell phone location information, which the Court described as “deeply revealing” because of its “depth, breadth, and comprehensive reach, and the inescapable and automatic nature of its collection.”  Given its nature, “the fact that such information is gathered by a third party does not make it any less deserving of Fourth Amendment protection,” the Court held.
Continue Reading IoT Update: Supreme Court’s Carpenter Decision Requires Warrant for Cell Phone Location Data

Two federal appellate courts are taking sharply different views on whether—and why—government agents must have some amount of suspicion to conduct forensic searches of electronic devices seized at the border.

The Fourth Circuit on May 9, 2018, held that government agents must have reasonable suspicion to conduct forensic searches of cell phones seized at the border.  It said that decision was based on the Supreme Court’s recognition in Riley v. California that phones contain information with a “uniquely sensitive nature.”  The Fourth Circuit and Ninth Circuit are the only two federal appellate courts to require reasonable suspicion for forensic border searches.

In contrast, the Eleventh Circuit on May 23, 2018, rejected that position—and held that no suspicion is required for forensic border searches of electronic devices.  According to the Eleventh Circuit, even after Riley, “it does not make sense to say that electronic devices should receive special treatment because so many people now own them or because they can store vast quantities of records or effects.”
Continue Reading IoT Update: Federal Appeals Courts Split on Forensic Searches of Devices Seized at Border