James P. Wehner is a Member in Caplin & Drysdale’s Washington, D.C., office. His principal practice area is complex civil litigation, with particular emphasis on insolvency litigation and data privacy issues.
Services
Mr. Wehner has extensive experience with disputes arising from financial products, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, and fraud. He counsels corporations, nonprofits, and trusts on privacy issues, data security, and information practices and litigates those matters in various forums. Mr. Wehner is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US). His insolvency work encompasses mass tort bankruptcies, areas in which he both advises and litigates. In the course of his practice, Mr. Wehner appears before federal and state courts across the country, and before domestic and international arbitral panels.
Highlights
- Defended several European banks in a large U.S.-based clawback case.
- Assessed and revised the data security and privacy program for an international nonprofit research institution.
- Coordinated with Swiss and Gibraltar counsel representing a large estate in international asset-freeze litigation over control of a $100 million charitable fund.
- Advised numerous bankruptcy trust advisory committees on data security and related litigation.
- Tried a case estimating the debtors’ overall liability for asbestos personal injury on behalf of the official committee in a large Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.
- Developed and implemented data anonymization protocols for large pools of personal data in significant Chapter 11 cases.
- Represented the purchaser of a synthetic collateralized debt obligation in a case involving the management of a pool of reference obligations.
- Prosecuted fraud and conspiracy claims arising out of a municipal bond transaction against a national financial institution.
- Litigated and settled a federal multidistrict consumer class action lawsuit in the cellular telephone industry.
- Defended and settled an automotive warranty class action.
Awards & Rankings
- Benchmark Litigation, Future Star, 2013-Present; Recommended, Washington, D.C., 2010-Present
Recent News
- Law360 Comments on Danish Tax Fraud Case Letter from Caplin & Drysdale Attorneys, Law360 Tax Authority, October 29, 2018
- Caplin & Drysdale Litigators “Recommended” in 2018 Benchmark Litigation, Benchmark Litigation, November 28, 2017
Recent Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, Lessons Learned from Exempt Organization Litigation – Why Trouble Occurs, How to Minimize Risks, and What to Do (and Not Do) When Litigation Happens, ACC National Capital Region, Nonprofits and Associations Forum, July 15, 2015
- Speaker, Liabilities of Funds and Fund Managers for Fraud and Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Annual Hedge Fund General Counsel Summit, September 13, 2011
- Panelist, Litigating on the Edge – Handling Disputes with Distressed Companies, Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association’s Litigation Forum, July 26, 2011
Recent Publications
- “Risk of Harm Standing in Data Breach Cases – Latest Developments,” with Sally J. Sullivan, Lexology, February 9, 2018
- “Third Circuit Rules Failure to Appeal Leaves Union and its Retirees Without a Remedy,” with Todd E. Phillips and Kevin C. Maclay, Lexology, September 9, 2014
- “Litigation Claimants Get a Second Chance in Bankruptcy Appeal,” with Todd E. Phillips, Lexology, July 25, 2014
- “Enforcing International Arbitration Clauses in Bankruptcy Proceedings,” International Law Office, March 21, 2014
- “Supreme Court to Consider Impact of Stipulation Limiting Damages on CAFA Jurisdiction,” with Todd E. Phillips and Kevin C. Maclay, Lexology, September 10, 2012
- “Social Media at Work: Defining New Legal Boundaries,” Rural Telecom, July 1, 2011