Sam has worked as a Senior Legal Counsel and global Privacy Officer for high-growth technology companies, advising on privacy, commercial and regulatory matters. She strives to provide pragmatic advice to organizations in relation to privacy, cybersecurity and compliance matters.
Sam grew up in Queensland, Australia and obtained her law degree from Griffith University in 2011. She has been called to the bar and actively practices in Queensland (AUS), British Columbia (CAN), California (USA) and Alberta (CAN).
Prior to joining the firm, Sam worked for over 2 years as Senior Legal Counsel, Data Protection Officer and CAMLO at a high-growth global financial technology company. Sam partnered closely with the business to provide innovative solutions and advice on a broad range of commercial, payments regulatory, cybersecurity and privacy matters. Prior to this role, Sam worked as Legal Counsel and Global Privacy Officer at a mature global SaaS compliance company, advising on a broad array of commercial, privacy and regulatory matters.
Sam has a passion for privacy and security, and received her LLM from York University, specializing in Cybersecurity and Privacy. In addition, Sam is a Certified Information Privacy Professional in Canada, the European Union and Asia; a Certified Information Privacy Manager; and is recognized as a Fellow of Information Privacy. Sam has a deep knowledge of global privacy issues and extensive experience working with companies to deftly navigate privacy and data security risks within their organizations. She also regularly acts as counsel in inquiries before the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, both in public sector and private sector matters, and she regularly advises on compliance in cross-border privacy issues and privacy breach matters.
In addition to her privacy work, Sam has advised on technology matters and payments regulatory matters, ranging from advising on AML compliance, conducting compliance reviews, negotiating various IT agreements, providing strategic counsel on the adoption of new technologies, and resolving contractual disputes. Sam is also a certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, with a focus on advising growing Fintechs.
