Joanne Elieli
Partner
Joanne is a partner in the London office and is the firm's cyber lead, specialising in complex cyber, data and technology disputes and investigations.
Partner
Joanne is a partner in the London office and is the firm's cyber lead, specialising in complex cyber, data and technology disputes and investigations.
Language - English
Jurisdiction - England & Wales
Joanne is an experienced litigator, advising both domestic and international clients on various contentious matters pertaining to cyber, data, technology and life sciences.
She provides clients with strategic advice in relation to data breaches, cyber incidents and crisis management. She is regularly involved in the associated follow-on litigation and in defending claims (including class actions) brought in relation to alleged breaches/infringements of data protection and cyber security laws. She is well-versed in the recovery of sensitive data, source code and confidential information, and in dealing with investigations (internal and regulatory).
Joanne regularly advises on disputes arising from the use and misuse of technology. She has expertise in disputes relating to distressed IT projects, most often in the context of delays, defects, scope creep and/or failure to meet project milestones; and disputes arising from software/hardware implementation, software licensing arrangements and the use of AI.
Joanne has significant experience acting on life sciences disputes, including in relation to breach of contract claims arising from manufacturing agreements and clinical trials.
Joanne is a CIPP/E certified privacy professional. She has held her Higher Rights of Audience (enabling her to act as a solicitor-advocate in all English civil courts) since 2016 and has experience appearing in a variety of courts and tribunals.
She is also a CEDR-accredited mediator.
Internal investigation for a global social media platform
Acted for a global social media platform in an international investigation relating to issues such as the safety of minors, content moderation, age verification, algorithm optimisation, rabbit-holing and data collection.
Breach of contract claims for an international publishing house
Acted for an international publishing house in a $350m dispute related to the provision of online educational content and digital services.
IT project dispute for a national insurance provider
Acted for a national insurance provider in relation to a dispute with an IT consulting firm arising from various IT advisory, integration, deployment and support services.
Data protection class action for a Pensions Trust
Acted for an international pensions master trust in successfully defending a follow-on class action claim in relation to alleged breaches of the UK GDPR and DPA following a cyber-attack suffered by one of its data processors.
Data breach for a financial services instutution
Acted for a financial services institution following a data breach suffered by one of its data processors; advised in respect of reporting obligations to the ICO and the FCA, prepared notifications to impacted data subjects, defended follow-claims arising from the same, and assisted with the recovery of costs associated with the breach from the data processor.
Cyber incident for a pharmaceutical company
Advised a pharma company in respect of a cyber incident (ransomware attack) affecting the health data of data subjects located in the UK and overseas, and supporting with the consequential reporting and notification obligations. Also acted on the resultant follow-on litigation.
Cloud storage claims international technology company
Acted for an international technology company in respect of its UK digital legacy claims in which claimants were seeking access to stored data held in the Cloud.
Breach of contract claim for a pharmaceutical company
Acted for an international pharmaceutical company in relation to various breaches of a manufacturing agreement related to the manufacture of drug products.
Breach of contract claim for a clinical research organisation
Acted for a multi-national CRO in successfully defending a claim (after an eight-week trial) from a Sponsor relating to allegations of mismanagement of a Phase III clinical trial said to have resulted in unreliable trial data.
