Sean C. Griffin

Practical Judgment at the Intersection of Law, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and Business

Cybersecurity, insurance, litigation, and artificial intelligence are no longer separate legal concerns. A decision involving one frequently creates risk across several others. I help clients identify those connections early, make better-informed decisions, and create defensible processes before a problem becomes a claim, investigation, lawsuit, or damaging exhibit. When a dispute has already arisen, I bring the perspective of a trial lawyer who has litigated commercial cases in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and courts across the country.

How I Help

AI Governance and Legal-Risk Counseling

Businesses are adopting AI faster than their policies, contracts, and internal controls can keep pace. I help organizations use AI responsibly without unnecessarily slowing innovation.

My work includes:

• AI legal-risk assessments

• Acceptable-use policies

• AI-use inventories

• Vendor and contract review

• Privacy and cybersecurity safeguards

• Confidentiality and privilege protocols

• Employment-use guidance

• Executive and board briefings

• Employee training

• Incident-response and escalation procedures

• Litigation-readiness planning

Commercial Litigation

I prosecute and defend complex business disputes involving contracts, fraud, trade secrets, corporate relationships, construction projects, professional services, employment, insurance, and technology.

My experience includes trials, appeals, emergency injunctive relief, internal investigations, discovery disputes, expert witnesses, and other matters in which the financial or reputational stakes demand experienced judgment.

Government Contractors

Government contractors face overlapping obligations involving procurement rules, cybersecurity, controlled information, employee conduct, certifications, subcontractors, vendors, and regulatory enforcement.

Drawing on my experience as a trial and appellate attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, I advise and represent contractors confronting contractual disputes, investigations, cybersecurity requirements, trade-secret issues, and False Claims Act-related risk.

Outside AI, Cybersecurity and Business-Risk Counsel

Not every organization needs a full-time AI governance, privacy, or cybersecurity lawyer. Many nevertheless need experienced legal judgment available before an issue becomes urgent.

I serve as outside counsel to businesses seeking ongoing assistance with policies, vendor contracts, sensitive data, employee use of technology, incident triage, regulatory developments, internal investigations, and emerging litigation risk.

Who I Advise

Insurers and Claims Organizations

I assist carriers, claims professionals, TPAs, and related organizations with litigation, coverage, claims-management issues, and the legal risks created by AI-assisted underwriting, fraud detection, analytics, and claims decisions.

Government Contractors

I help federal, state, and local contractors address disputes and compliance risks involving cybersecurity, CUI, CMMC, DFARS, employment, vendors, procurement representations, and potential enforcement exposure.

Employers

I counsel and defend employers facing employment claims, trade-secret disputes, internal investigations, and questions involving AI-assisted hiring, screening, performance management, surveillance, discipline, and termination.

Law Firms and Professional-Services Businesses

I help organizations whose value depends on confidential information, client trust, professional judgment, proprietary processes, and the responsible use of emerging technology.

Mid-Market Businesses

I advise companies that face significant litigation, cyber, privacy, employment, and vendor risk but may not have specialized AI-governance or privacy counsel in-house.

Why Clients Call Me

Clients do not need abstract discussions about technology or risk. They need practical answers:

• What can we do?

• What should we avoid?

• What needs to be documented?

• What will regulators, opposing counsel, judges, or juries think about this decision?

• What should we do now to prevent a manageable issue from becoming an expensive dispute?

My role is to help clients answer those questions, make deliberate decisions, and respond effectively when circumstances change.

My Education and Courtroom Experience

I am a Member of Longman & Van Grack and have more than three decades of commercial litigation experience.

After graduating from Harvard College with honors and Columbia Law School, I clerked for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. I later served as a trial and appellate attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Since then, I have represented insurers, government contractors, employers, construction companies, law firms, professional-services businesses, and other commercial clients. My experience includes litigating more than 100 bench and jury trials to verdict.

I am a Certified Information Privacy Professional for the United States (CIPP/US) and a certified Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP). I have chaired cybersecurity and artificial-intelligence committees for national defense-law organizations and currently serve as President-Elect of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel.

Insights

I write and speak about developments at the intersection of litigation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, privacy, employment, government contracting, and business risk.

Featured Insights

• Your Next Expert Could Be a Robot: Artificial Intelligence and Proposed Federal Rule of Evidence 707

• The Cyber Threat Landscape: What Businesses Need to Know

• How to Keep AI From Blowing Up in Your Face

• Government-Contractor Cybersecurity and False Claims Act Risk

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Start With a Conversation

If your organization is adopting AI, evaluating a technology vendor, managing cybersecurity or privacy risk, or facing a significant business dispute, I would be glad to learn more.

An initial conversation can help determine the nature and urgency of the issue, whether I may be able to assist, and what the appropriate next steps might be.

Email: sean@lvglawfirm.com
Telephone: (202) 836-7828

Sean C. Griffin is a Member of Longman & Van Grack. The information on this website is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Visiting this website or contacting Sean does not create an attorney-client relationship.