Mark S. Melodia

Mark Melodia is a privacy, data security and consumer class action defense lawyer in Holland & Knight's New York office and serves as the head of the firm's Data Strategy, Security & Privacy Practice Group. Mr. Melodia focuses his practice on governmental and internal investigations, putative class actions and other "bet-the-company" suits in the following areas: data security/privacy, mortgage/financial services and other complex business litigation, including defamation.

Mr. Melodia has defended approximately 250 putative class actions – including more than 120 data security and privacy matters, and nearly 150 cases for financial services companies. He has also been lead defense counsel in multiple multidistrict litigations (MDLs) – arising from ransomware and other data incidents, supposed wiretaps on consumer-facing websites and apps, and other allegations of data over-collection or misuse. He routinely represents clients responding to government privacy investigations before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), state attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). He has guided clients in a wide range of industries through several hundred data incidents over the past dozen years. He advises clients on their obligations and helps them operationalize the requirements of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as federal and state laws in the U.S. He consults with boards and executive teams on these issues.

Mr. Melodia has been an instructor of Information Security Law in the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Executive Education and Certification Program at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College, as well as a guest lecturer at Seton Hall Law School and New York University School of Law.