Blair Dawson, CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM

Member;
Chicago
P: 312.642.6131
bdawson@mcdonaldhopkins.com

Blair brings decades of insurance coverage and claims knowledge in addition to in-house and corporate experience in the financial and insurance industries and a background in responding to data security incidents to McDonald Hopkins' Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice Group.

She is certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as an accredited Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US), Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM), and has spent more than 20 years as an attorney in Chicago, including two years as General Counsel and Senior Vice President in Insurance Management for Acrisure, LLC – one of the largest international insurance brokers in the world. While there, she developed and oversaw the company’s complex insurance program, implementing cyber incident response policies and protocols, overseeing risk management, engaging in insurance program negotiations, managing litigated and non-litigated claims, providing client training to mitigate risk, and resolving insurance coverage disputes.

Blair's practice includes extensive experience responding to data security incidents while ensuring her clients remain compliant with state, federal and international requirements, as well as managing operational and reputational impact. She has managed numerous international claims, coordinating with her clients’ general counsel, and regularly provides coverage and monitoring of litigation and pre-litigation matters and insurance general and professional liability claims. Blair also develops and provides oversight for complex insurance programs, implementing cyber incident response policies and protocols, overseeing risk management, engaging in insurance program negotiations, retaining and overseeing outside counsel, providing client training to mitigate risk, and resolving insurance coverage disputes.

Blair’s experience includes representing private companies and public entities whose operations have been affected by ransomware attacks or impacted by a business email compromise. She works with clients and third-parties, including forensic investigators, law enforcement and ransomware negotiators to identify and contain the incident, minimize disruption to business operations, deliver effective public communications, minimize exposure to possible litigation and regulatory investigations, and avoid further attacks.

Blair also consults with clients on compliance issues, utilizing knowledge of U.S. and international privacy laws, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

After earning her B.A. from Marquette University, Blair completed her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law. She is currently working towards an M.S. in Cybersecurity from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater with a completion date estimated in the Summer 2023.