Nathanial Wood is a partner in Crowell & Moring's Litigation Group in the firm's Los Angeles office. His practice focuses on the litigation of complex commercial matters, including privacy and cybersecurity and class actions. Nathanial has substantial experience representing clients at all phases of the litigation process, from pre-litigation counseling through trial and appeals.
Prior to joining Crowell & Moring, Nathanial was an associate at the San Francisco firm of Folger Levin & Kahn LLP. Prior to law school, he worked for the California State Water Resources Control Board.
Representative Matters
- Defended national hotel chain in class action alleging violation of data protection statute as a result of a malware intrusion. Obtained voluntary dismissal of all claims with prejudice without payment to plaintiff or the putative class.
- Defended major academic medical center in complex class actions alleging violations of privacy and consumer laws as a result of a cyberattack on its computer network potentially affecting over 4.5 million individuals.
- Defended research university from claims for allegedly permitting unauthorized access to proprietary data.
- Defended military contractor and employee against claims of trade secret misappropriation based on allegedly wrongful acquisition of corporate data.
- Defended major national health plan in class actions in federal and state court alleging violation of medical privacy laws arising out of a data security incident affecting over two million plan members. Obtained favorable settlement after the consolidated class action complaint was dismissed.
- Defended international car rental company in class action alleging statutory violations arising out of rental pricing notification practices. Obtained voluntary dismissal of class claims and favorable settlement on an individual basis without need for class certification proceedings.
- Defended major government contractor in litigation alleging violations of the False Claims Act. Client prevailed on all claims at trial.
- Represented major home appliances manufacturer in antitrust action against foreign supplier of electronics in federal price-fixing litigation.
- Represented public university in an action seeking to halt a multimillion dollar development on university property. Defeated at trial plaintiff’s efforts to block the development and successfully defended the trial court’s ruling on appeal.
- Represented several former partners of a law firm sued for breach of fiduciary duty by their former firm. Obtained decision in favor of the partners following a six week bench trial.
Affiliations
Admitted to practice: California, U.S. District Court for the Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California
Speeches & Presentations
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“Bulletin from the Cyber Threat Frontlines-Are You Covered?” California Association of Health Plans Annual Conference, Huntington Beach, CA
(October 10, 2017).
Presenter: Nathanial J. Wood.
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"Privacy and Cyber Threats - Practical Strategies to Limit Liability," San Francisco, CA
(September 14, 2017).
Presenters: Kristin J. Madigan and Nathanial J. Wood.
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"Privacy and Cyber Threats - Practical Strategies to Limit Liability," Palo Alto, CA
(September 13, 2017).
Presenters: Kristin J. Madigan and Nathanial J. Wood.
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"Protecting Information: Cybersecurity and Risk Management," WOOPS 2016, Crowell & Moring's 32nd Annual West Coast Ounce of Prevention Seminar, Marina del Rey, CA
(May 18, 2016).
Panelists: Peter B. Miller, Jennifer S. Romano, and Nathanial J. Wood.
Publications
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"Ninth Circuit Rejects Facebook's Article III Argument: Biometric Lawsuit Will Proceed,"
(December, 2019).
Authors: Laura Foggan, Jeffrey L. Poston, Nathanial J. Wood, and Brandon C. Ge.
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"Seventh Circuit Revives Data Breach Case Despite No Evidence Of Monetary Harm," Crowell & Moring's Data Law Insights
(April 24, 2018).
Authors: Nathanial J. Wood and Matthew B. Welling.
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"9th Circ.'s Expansive Standard For Standing In Breach Case," Law360
(April 6, 2018).
Authors: Nathanial J. Wood, and Brandon C. Ge.
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"Ninth Circuit: Disclosure of video viewing history constitutes harm sufficient to confer standing in federal court," Crowell & Moring's Data Law Insights
(December 4, 2017).
Author: Nathanial J. Wood.
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"How California Streamlined Costly, Time-Consuming Litigation," Law360
(March 17, 2016).
Authors: Gregory D. Call, Van-Dzung Vu Nguyen, and Nathanial J. Wood.
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"Litigation Forecast 2016: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year," a Crowell & Moring LLP publication
(January 2016).
Contributor.
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"Regulatory Forecast 2016: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know for the Coming Year," a Crowell & Moring LLP publication
(January 2016).
Contributor.
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"California's Complex Court Program," Crowell & Moring's Litigation Forecast 2016
(January 2016).
Contributors: Nathanial Wood, Greg Call, and Van Nguyen.
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"California Legislature Seeks to Restrict Data Use and Ramp Up Retailer Liability for Data Breaches," Crowell & Moring's Retail & Consumer Products Law Observer
(April 16, 2014).
Author: Nathanial J. Wood.
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"Divided Fifth Circuit Rules That Government May Obtain Cell Phone Location Information Without A Warrant," Crowell & Moring's E-Discovery Law Insights
(July 31, 2013).
Author: Nathanial J. Wood.
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Issues For Plaintiffs Settling Private CERCLA Litigation, Law360
(July 26, 2012).
Co-Authors: Kevin C. Mayer and Nathanial J. Wood.
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"A Measure of Peace: Settling Private CERCLA Litigation," The Voice, DRI
(October 2011).
Co-Authors: Kevin C. Mayer and Nathanial J. Wood.
Client Alerts & Newsletters
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"And So It Begins: The First CCPA Class Action,"
Privacy Law Alert
(March 20, 2020).
Contacts: Jeffrey L. Poston, Nathanial J. Wood, Paul M. Rosen, Kristin J. Madigan, CIPP/US, Gabriel M. Ramsey, Kayvan M. Ghaffari
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"California Litigants, Pay Attention, the Rules of Discovery Have Changed,"
Litigation Alert
(February 5, 2020).
Contacts: Uri Niv, Nathanial J. Wood
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"Ninth Circuit Rejects Facebook’s Article III Argument; Biometric Lawsuit Will Proceed,"
Privacy Law Alert
(August 16, 2019).
Contacts: Jeffrey L. Poston, Nathanial J. Wood, Laura Foggan, Brandon C. Ge
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"Ninth Circuit Revives Data Breach Class Action, Finds Risk of Identity Theft Without Actual Harm Sufficient to Establish Standing,"
Privacy Law Alert
(March 12, 2018).
Contacts: Jeffrey L. Poston, Nathanial J. Wood, Brandon C. Ge
Media Mentions
Firm News & Announcements