How to Hire an Internet/Technology Attorney
1. Match their technical domain expertise to your exact internet risk
Internet law spans data privacy, cybersecurity incident response, SaaS/platform contracts, advertising/marketing compliance, content moderation and takedown, intellectual property online (DMCA, trademark/brand enforcement, user-generated content issues), e‑commerce, payment systems (PCI, chargebacks), and platform intermediary liability (Section 230 or equivalent). Tell candidates precisely what you do (consumer app, B2B SaaS, marketplace, fintech, ad network, social platform, IoT device, healthcare telemedicine platform) and demand examples of similar clients and matters. Ask whether they’ve drafted or negotiated the exact documents you need (terms of service, privacy policies, data processing agreements, vendor/subprocessor agreements, SOC2/ISO-related contractual language, cookie banners and consent mechanisms compliant with GDPR/CPEA-style rules). For technical issues, breach response, vulnerability disclosures, de‑identification/aggregation practices, confirm they understand underlying tech (APIs, encryption-in-transit and at-rest, OAuth flows, mobile SDK behavior, server logs, telemetry) well enough to identify what evidence will be needed and what remedial steps preserve privilege and regulatory compliance.
2. Verify incident-response capacity, vendor/ecosystem experience, and regulatory navigation skills
For internet matters, speed and regulatory savvy matter. Ask how they handle incident response: do they provide a written IR playbook, run tabletop exercises with technical teams, and have predetermined relationships with forensic firms and breach coaches? Confirm they know privilege-preserving techniques (use of external counsel-led forensic engagements, written retention letters, and careful internal communications) and expedited obligations like breach notification timelines under state law, GDPR Article 33/34 deadlines, and sector-specific rules (HIPAA breach notification). For vendor and platform ecosystems, verify experience negotiating cloud-provider SLAs (data location, encryption, incident notification, liability caps), CDNs, payment processors, and app-store terms, and ask for examples resolving disputes or outages with those providers. On regulation, ensure they’ve handled enforcement interactions with agencies (FTC, state AGs, EU DPAs), class-action privacy suits, and cross-border data transfer mechanisms (SCCs, BCRs, US–EU data transfer issues), including practical fixes those regulators accepted, these concrete outcomes show they can limit fines and corrective-action scope.
3. Require documented deliverables, pricing tied to phases, and integration with your tech and compliance teams
Get a written engagement that lists deliverables and is phase‑based: initial gap assessment and prioritized remediation plan, drafting/review of customer/vendor agreements, rolling compliance program implementation (privacy impact assessments, vendor inventory, retention policies), and ongoing advisory for incidents or regulatory inquiries. For pricing, prefer a mix: fixed fees for discrete projects (privacy policy and DPA drafting, terms of service overhaul, SCC implementation), capped monthly retainers for ongoing advisory and rapid-response availability, and transparent hourly or contingency terms for litigation/enforcement. Require clear treatment of third‑party costs (forensics, notification vendors, credit‑monitoring services) and pre-authorization thresholds. Operationally, insist on integration points: regular joint meetings with your CTO/CISO, a secure shared workspace for privileged documents, SLA for response times to critical incidents (e.g., 2-hour acknowledgment, 24-hour action plan), and scheduled compliance deliverables (annual DPIAs, vendor audits). Finally, request references from similar companies, ideally ones that had data breaches or regulatory inquiries, and concrete outcomes (reduced fine, narrowed scope of corrective action, successful DMCA or takedown defense) so you can assess practical effectiveness, not just theory.
