Melinda F. Levitt is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP, where she is a member of the firm's Antitrust, Privacy, Security & Information Management and International Practices. Ms. Levitt's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including the areas of antitrust, securities, intellectual property and class action defense work in matters pending before federal and state courts, as well as various federal agencies.
Ms. Levitt has developed particular experience in complex electronic discovery and obtaining discovery from companies abroad. She has also written extensively on the subject.
In addition to her litigation activities, Ms. Levitt also practices in the area of international trade, having previously worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce as an import specialist and on the foreign policy staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Her work in this area has included antidumping case work and counseling and representing clients before the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the European Commission and various other governmental trade officials. Ms. Levitt's foreign language skills are in both French and Italian.
Ms. Levitt graduated from Brandeis University (B.A., history, cum laude, 1980); The Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (M.A., 1982); and the George Washington University School of Law (J.D., with honors, 1989). She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
Publications:
· "U.S. Case Law Regarding Social Networks' Privacy Policies," E-Commerce Law Reports (January 2012)
· "'Discovery' in the United States," DataGuidance (November 2011)
· "Cookies 2.0: Flash Cookies, User Profiling and Privacy," E-Commerce Law and Policy (October 2011)
· "Privacy Rights in the Social Media Context and Litigation," Data Protection Law & Policy; also published as "Piccolo v Paterson et al. and Zimmerman v Weis Market," E-Commerce Law Reports (July 2011)
· "Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google, Inc," E-Commerce Law Reports (September 2010)
· "United States v. Weaver," E-Commerce Law Reports (October 2009)
· "California's E-discovery Rules: US and Non-US Impact," Data Protection Law & Policy (September 2009) and E-Commerce Law & Policy (August 2009)