Anthony Gardner, former U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and among those who worked on creating the E.U.-U.S. privacy shield for international data transfers, has joined law firm Sidley Austin as senior counsel.
The announcement comes as the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce and Justice are meeting in Washington for the first annual assessment of that shield.
Gardner will be a member of the firm's international trade and privacy and cybersecurity practices, and be based in both London and Brussels.
Prior to his role as U.S. Ambassador to the E.U., Gardner served as managing director of a London-based private equity firm. He also served as director for European Affairs on the U.S. National Security Council, where he was responsible for U.S. relations with the European Union.
Before being named ambassador, Gardner was managing partner at private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners in London. Before that, according to his State Department bio, he was executive director of the leveraged finance departments of both Bank of America and GE Capital and has been a senior associate in law firms in London, Paris, New York, and Brussels.
