Anjali C. Das

Bitcoin, Blockchain & Digital Assets
In 2022, Anjali received a Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets presented by the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP).  Anjali is a member of DACFP, which is a group of financial professionals dedicated to serving clients and investors who are curious about bitcoin, blockchain and digital assets. While practicing law full time at the Wilson Elser, Anjali received her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, concentrating on E-commence, technology and entrepreneurship. Anjali’s background in business, finance, technology, law and insurance provide the foundation for her interest in the world of crypto and digital assets.

Incident Response
Anjali is responsible for oversight of cyber crisis management and incident response. She routinely represents clients that have been the victim of an actual or suspected cybersecurity incident or data breach ranging from a business email compromise to sophisticated ransomware attacks by cybercriminals. She has handled more than 1,000 incidents and manages a team of attorneys around the country who provide 24/7 incident response services for private and public companies, spanning all industry sectors including health care, insurance, professional and financial services, retail and manufacturing. Anjali regularly advises clients on their legal obligations under U.S. and international data privacy and breach notification laws. She also assists clients in devising crisis communication strategies, cooperating with law enforcement and the FBI in criminal investigations, and representing clients in investigations by state and federal regulators. 

Virtual Privacy Officer Services
In 2020, Anjali launched Wilson Elser’s dedicated Virtual Privacy Officer Services (VPOS) to provide pre-breach cybersecurity and data privacy risk management and compliance services to small and large organizations across all industry sectors. She has assisted organizations in developing their cybersecurity and privacy compliance programs, policies and procedures pursuant to various laws, including HIPAA, GLBA, GDPR, the New York Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) Cybersecurity Regulations, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Privacy Rights Act, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, and the Colorado Privacy Act. She also has assisted clients in managing their third-party vendor and supply chain cyber risk. 

Data Breach Class Actions
Anjali has zealously represented and defended organizations in privacy litigation and data breach class actions filed in state and federal courts around the country from coast to coast, including New York and California. She has created favorable law in data breach cases involving legal issues of first impression. For instance, in a data breach class action filed in Minnesota state court, the court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss six of the eight causes of action. With respect to the two remaining claims, the court indicated it was “highly skeptical” and that plaintiffs would have an “arduous task” to prove their claims. On multiple occasions, Anjali has successfully mediated and settled nationwide class actions on favorable terms for her clients. 

Regulatory Investigations & Enforcement Actions
Anjali routinely represents clients in regulatory investigations stemming from cybersecurity incidents, including investigations by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the U.S. Department of Education and the New York Department of Financial Services, in addition to various state attorneys general and insurance commissioners. Anjali also has represented clients in negotiating Consent Orders with regulators to avoid enforcement actions, including monetary terms, fines and penalties, and injunctive relief. 

Insurance Industry Experience
Anjali has more than 20 years of insurance industry experience. Prior to joining the firm, Anjali served as in-house claims counsel for a domestic insurance carrier, where she was responsible for claims arising under public and private Directors and Officers liability, Employment Practices liability and Lawyers' professional liability insurance policies. She assisted in drafting policy wording and endorsements, established a network of approved defense panel counsel, analyzed potential liability exposure and coverage defenses to claims, set claims reserves and interacted with the company’s reinsurers during claims audits. Through this experience, Anjali gained valuable insight into the insurance company claims reporting structure; the management of outside counsel; the dynamic interplay among adjusters, underwriters and brokers; the importance of setting accurate claims reserves in a timely fashion; the role of reinsurers; and the value of tracking claims trends and costs, which impact an insurance company’s long-term business objectives and profitability. 

D&O and Professional Liability Insurance Claims & Coverage
Anjali has extensive professional liability coverage and claims-handling experience across various product lines, including Directors and Officers, Employment Practices, Lawyers, Financial Institutions, ERISA, Fiduciary, Cyber, and other professional liability and errors and omissions insurance policies. She has represented insurance companies in coverage litigation in state and federal courts around the country, including high-profile cases involving big banks during the financial crisis and the Madoff Ponzi scheme. Anjali also has drafted policy wording and endorsements for many insurance carriers. 

Anjali has successfully mediated, arbitrated and litigated D&O and other insurance coverage disputes in state and federal courts nationwide. She regularly represents D&O insurers as coverage and monitoring counsel in complex shareholder class actions against public companies and their directors and officers for violations of federal securities laws; shareholder derivative suits against directors and officers for breach of fiduciary duty and mismanagement in the context of mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions; and ERISA stock-drop lawsuits. These matters specifically have involved late trading, market timing, stock options backdating, contingent commissions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, China reverse merger companies, the Bernard L. Madoff international Ponzi scheme and the mortgage subprime crisis. In addition, Anjali has counseled clients in connection with lawsuits brought by the government and regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Anjali’s representation in such matters has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in savings for insurance companies.