Peter combines extensive experience in information technology, privacy and data protection laws and regulations with a practical appreciation of the business and legal imperatives that can determine a client's success.
His focus is helping clients – in particular, businesses operating in regulated environments - navigate through the increasingly complex convergence of information technology and business, offering practical and strategic advice in the following areas:
- Technology procurement and outsourcing arrangements
- Privacy, information security and data breach notification
- Protection and enforcement of IP rights
- Trademark, patent, copyright and software licensing
- Internet law and e-commerce initiatives
As the leader of the firm's Privacy and Data Security Practice Group and a member of its Intellectual Property and Technology Practice Group, Peter represents businesses in a wide range of industries, including information technology, energy, banking, retail, financial services, insurance and health care.
Before joining Pierce Atwood in February 2000, Peter served as Intellectual Property and Technology Counsel in the Legal Division of Unum Group (NYSE: UNM), a Fortune 500 company and the world's leading disability insurer.
Early in his career, Peter practiced law with the Wall Street firm Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York.
Recent Experience
- On behalf of a major U.S. utility, led legal team responsible for preparing and negotiating key technology license and services agreements for full scale deployment of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution serving its entire customer base, one of the first such deployments in the United States. The AMI solution involves installation of smart meters at each customer location and implementation of meter data management systems and secure mesh network technologies which enable two-way data communications between the utility and each of its customer end points.
- On behalf of HealthInfoNet, a statewide health information exchange, led legal team responsible for preparing and negotiating key technology license and services agreements for full scale deployment of one the first (and largest) statewide health information exchanges in the country using clinical data.
- On behalf of major insurers, banks, retailers, public utilities and health care providers, prepared and negotiated hundreds of technology procurement and outsourcing contracts involving mission critical systems and business processes, including major IT outsourcing deals involving offshore software development and other services.
- Regularly provide advice regarding compliance with various U.S. state and federal laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and data breach notification, including HIPAA, the HITECH Act and the NAIC model acts and regulations. Advised a number of clients that have experienced data security incidents with respect to breach notification obligations, incident response, communications with governmental agencies, risk mitigation and litigation strategies.
- Regularly provide advice regarding consumer identification and authentication issues and compliance with the requirements of E-SIGN (Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act) to ensure the validity and enforceability of electronic records and transactions.
- On behalf of leading software publishers, prepared and negotiated hundreds of software licenses, software development, application hosting, software as a service, joint development, strategic marketing and distributor (reseller/OEM) agreements.
- On behalf of a publicly traded consumer services company, prepared and negotiated marketing services agreements with leading advertising agencies, multi-channel marketing services firms, online business optimization providers and media agencies and interactive media networks, as well as agreements for talent services and production and placement of radio and TV commercials.
Professional Activities
Adjunct professor at the University of Maine School of Law (teaching software licensing and copyright law)
Member, Smart Grid and Critical Infrastructure Working Group, Section of Science and Technology Law Information Security Committee, American Bar Association
Member, Information Technology Board of the Maine Technology Institute (2000-2008)
Frequent speaker:
- 46 States and Counting: State and Federal Data Breach Notification, Presentation at CyberCrime 2011 Symposium (November 2011)
- Data Security Breach: Now What? – Presentation to Association of Corporate Counsel Northeast Chapter (May 2011)
- Privacy, Data Security and Breach Notification Obligations under HIPAA, the HITECH Act, and State Laws and Regulations, Presentation to PRISM International (May 2011)
- State Insurance Privacy and Data Security Laws and Regulations, CLE presentation to in-house attorneys of Fortune 500 insurance company (September 2010)
- Software Development and Licensing, Maine State Bar Association Business Law Institute (September 2009)
Publications
Chapter entitled "Responding to Trends in the IP Area" in Common Issues in IP Law published by Aspatore Books in 2008.
Chapter entitled "Corporate Names" in Maine Corporation Law and Practice, a corporate treatise published by Tower Publishing in 2004. In this chapter Peter analyzes the standard for approval of corporate names under the Maine Business Corporation Act and explores the intersection of corporate names and unfair competition and trademark law.