Holly Grochmal is the Division General Counsel- Sales and Commercial Transactions at Pandora Media, Inc., where she leads a team responsible for supporting Pandora’s sales, marketing, commercial licensing, BD and revenue operations teams. In her role at Pandora, she negotiates commercial transactions with top advertising agencies and advertisers in connection with Pandora’s digital advertising platforms. In addition, she frequently negotiates complex agreements with ad networks and ad tech vendors. Holly also provides guidance on data, privacy and GDPR and works with cross-functional teams to develop company policies.
Prior to joining Pandora, Holly was an Assistant General Counsel at E. & J. Gallo Winery where she focused on advertising law, social media and marketing sponsorships and promotions as well as alcohol beverage law. Before joining Gallo, Holly spent 9 years in private practice as a corporate associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP (Paris, France and Menlo Park) and Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass working on a wide-variety of commercial matters and corporate securities transactions. Holly holds a J.D. cum laude from Cornell Law School and a B.A., magna cum laude from Colby College.
Robert Newman is a partner in the Advanced Media & Technology practice at Loeb & Loeb and is co-chair of the firm’s privacy practice. Mr. Newman is also an adjunct faculty member of Chicago-Kent College of Law and The John Marshall Law School's Center for Intellectual Property, Information and Privacy Law. He teaches courses on advertising and marketing law, e-commerce, and behavioral tracking and targeting. He is also a Lexis Practice Advisor in the areas of marketing and advertising.
Mr. Newman counsels clients in connection with marketing, privacy, data security, e-commerce and other intellectual property matters. He advises major brands, advertising agencies and digital media companies on all aspects of their consumer marketing communications, commercialization and enforcement of intellectual property portfolios, and litigation risk avoidance relating to IP, marketing and emerging technologies.
Named a “Client Service All-Star” by BTI Consulting Group in 2018, Mr. Newman works closely with clients to protect their creative advantages in the following areas:
Data Privacy and Security: Regulatory and compliance counseling, including with respect to behavioral advertising, “big data,” mobile marketing, digital media buy agreements, programmatic advertising, and marketing to children. Mr. Newman frequently handles responses to high profile data breaches and assists clients in the assessment and development of internal data privacy and security policies and procedures.
Advertising, Marketing, and Promotions: Advertising clearance for traditional and interactive advertising campaigns, and counseling on consumer protection issues, design and implementation of promotions, and new media matters, including social media, text message marketing, and user-generated content.
Trademarks and Brand Protection: Trademark selection and clearance, assistance with the development of branding strategies, trademark prosecution, and global trademark portfolios management. Mr. Newman also advises on domain name strategies and gTLD matters.
IP Transactions, Licensing, and E-Commerce: IP matters associated with mergers, acquisitions, outsourcing, transition services, and other significant corporate transactions. In addition Mr. Newman counsels clients on software and mobile application development, end-user licenses, application service provider agreements, and software licensing.
IP Disputes and Litigation: False advertising, copyright, trademark, domain name, defamation, right of publicity, and unfair competition disputes and litigation, as well as UDRP proceedings and matters before the National Advertising Division and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Talent, Music, and Copyright: Music and content licenses, and high-level talent agreements for use in advertising and branded entertainment. Mr. Newman also counsels content creators and content providers on the protection and commercialization of their music, literary, and other creative properties.
Liisa Thomas is a Partner in Sheppard Mullin’s Chicago and London offices, and Co-Practice Group Leader of its Privacy & Cybersecurity Team. Her clients rely on her ability to create clarity in a sea of confusing legal requirements and describe her as “extremely responsive, while providing thoughtful legal analysis combined with real world practical advice.” Ms. Thomas is the author of the definitive treatise on data breach, Thomas on Data Breach: A Practical Guide to Handling Worldwide Data Breach Notification, which has been described as “a no-nonsense roadmap for in-house and external practitioners alike.” She is known as an industry leader in the privacy and data security space and is consistently recognized by Leading Lawyers Network, Chambers and The Legal 500. Ms. Thomas was recently recognized as the 2017 Data Protection Lawyer of the Year - USA by Global 100, the 2017 U.S. Data Protection Lawyer of the Year by Finance Monthly, and the “Best in Data Security Law Services” at Corporate LiveWire’s 2017 Global Awards. She received her J.D. from the University of Chicago in 1996 and is admitted in Illinois and the District of Columbia.
