Pulina Whitaker’s practice encompasses data privacy and cybersecurity as well as employment. She is a co-head of our global Privacy & Cybersecurity practice. She manages employment and data privacy issues in sales and acquisitions, commercial outsourcings and restructurings. Pulina provides day-to-day advisory support for multinationals on the full spectrum of data privacy issues, including data breaches, data protection compliance issues and data sharing and data transfer arrangements. Pulina has deep experience managing international employee misconduct investigations as well as cross-border data breach investigations. She has been appointed as a compliance monitor for the UN and for USAID. She is also a trustee of Hostage International.
Pulina acts for employers in the defense of employment and data privacy claims, including for unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, breach of data processing, and employment contract claims. Her data privacy practice includes handling data breach incidents, managing cross-border transfers of personal data, and advising on website cookie notice and consent requirements, privacy policies, data processing consent requirements, and data subject rights. She has extensive experience working with international and European clients comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, including advising on audits of data processing activities and data security incidents.
Pulina has experience advising on commercial outsourcing and corporate reorganizations, negotiating warranty and indemnity provisions and disclosures in transactional documentation, and conducting global redundancy exercises. She has managed global reduction in force programs for multinational clients and is skilled at navigating individual and collective consultation requirements, including dealing with trade unions and works councils. She also advises on the automatic transfer of employment requirements and related information and consultation obligations in the United Kingdom and across other European jurisdictions.
Pulina’s practice spans internationally, and she speaks French and Italian.
She has been described by clients in The Legal 500 as “extremely knowledgeable with a practical approach” and is noted as being “a key name for issues covering employment and data privacy work.”
selected representations
Advised a company on the investigation of a significant whistleblower complaint
Provided counsel to one of the world’s largest IT companies on the international employment and stock issues related to its global merger with a US IT company and subsequent global integration issues
Advised on the joint venture of one of Europe’s largest payment processing businesses
Advised on the acquisition of a manufacturing conglomerate across multiple jurisdictions, including informing or consulting employee representatives, dealing with a substantial defined benefit pension scheme deficit, and negotiating new service agreements for the board of directors
Conducted a fraud investigation and liaised with the City of London police
Managed the international data breach reporting requirements in over 130 countries relating to a data breach incident
Advised on the UK Modern Slavery Act requirements for numerous multinational organizations
Advised on UK gender pay reporting requirements
Appointed as a Compliance Monitor for a transnational organization relating to employee misconduct matters in numerous global jurisdictions
Advised on cross-border data transfers for numerous multinationals, including executing model clauses and similar data transfer agreements, the EU-US Privacy Shield, and other alternative options for transferring personal data to non-European jurisdictions
Advised numerous data controller and data processor organisations, including European, US, Russian, and APAC organisations, on their requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation and local European data privacy laws
Defended a sexual harassment claim involving employees in US and UK jurisdictions
Education
College of Law of England and Wales, Chester, 1997, LPC
University of Bristol, England, 1996, LLB, Hons
Admissions
England & Wales (Solicitor)
Brussels
Ireland
Awards and Affiliations
Recommended, Employment: Employers, The Legal 500 UK (2021)
Recommended, Human Resources: Employment: Employers and Senior Executives: Employers, London, The Legal 500 UK (2016, 2017–2020)
Recommended, TMT (Technology, Media and Telecoms): Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology, London, The Legal 500 UK (2019)
