Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On December 5, 2013, Lisa J. Sotto, partner and head of the Global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice at Hunton & Williams LLP, was featured in Law360’s “Female Powerbrokers” Q&A series. The series focuses on female lawyers and their personal experiences as they have grown into leadership positions within their respective firms. Here is an excerpt from Sotto’s interview:

Q: How did you break into what many consider to be an old boys’ network? 

A: For me, the trick was choosing niche areas that were not well established. I started as an environmental lawyer in 1987, and while it was not a new field at the time, it certainly was not a deeply established men’s club. And then, transitioning into privacy law — a field that was absolutely untrodden at the time — meant that there was no “old boy’s network.” So for both of these areas, I didn’t have to break in. I will say that, early in my career, I walked into many conference rooms in which I was the only female. But I was stunned just a couple of weeks ago to spend two hours in a conference room in which I was the only woman out of 15 people — that hadn’t happened to me in years!