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Bennett B. Borden

Partner

 

Bennett's data scientist background is extremely beneficial in his ability to understand our business in a way most external counsel do not
Chambers USA 2022: eDiscovery & Information Governance
About

Bennett Borden is an experienced attorney and data scientist, advising multinational clients on data privacy, security and regulatory compliance. One of few people in the legal industry who is both a data scientist and an attorney with an active AI and algorithm verification testing practice, he is a leading authority on developing insight out of massive volumes of data, whether to help clients monetize and productize data, develop AI systems and algorithmic models in a legal and ethical manner or conduct discovery and internal investigations. In 2020, Borden won an "Innovative Lawyers" award by the Financial Times for his "stand out expertise in data analytics and machine learning."

Bar admissionsMarylandDistrict of Columbia
CourtsUnited States District Court for the District of ColumbiaUnited States District Court for the District of MarylandAll Washington, DC federal and state courtsAll Maryland state courts

EXPERIENCE

  • Developed one of the world's first techniques for testing insurance underwriting and fraud detection algorithms for unintended bias. He employed this technique for more than a dozen leading insurance companies to ensure fair and accurate risk-based pricing.
  • Defended a leading social media company in a multidistrict litigation alleging harm to minors from the use of the social media platform. Bennett led the team that analyzed the recommendation engine that determined how content was presented to users and developed a system to classify that content as to potential harm.
  • Led the eDiscovery team for a multidistrict litigation for a global retailer facing the DOJ, FDA and OSHA investigations and a simultaneous class action. The volume of potential discovery was immense, and Bennett led the negotiations in developing a reasonable and iterative discovery protocol for the class action while also producing documents to the federal investigators.
  • Led the eDiscovery team for a leading defense contractor in litigation concerning the development and manufacturing of military equipment. The volume of electronically stored information was immense and Bennett's fact development team, using advanced classification technology, was able to review more than 20 million documents in eight weeks.
  • Led the eDiscovery team for a leading agricultural company in multinational arbitration involving more than 20 parties and third parties and covering ten years' worth of data. Much of this was unstructured data requiring Bennett's team of data scientists to analyze it utilizing a tool developed specifically for this litigation.
  • Built and implemented a predictive compliance tool for a Fortune 50 financial services and consumer finance firm that was successfully able to identify and prevent insider threats before they were able to cause damage to the firm or its customers.
  • Led a team of lawyers and data scientists in several successful pro bono class actions against police departments for unconstitutional arrest practices. These cases resulted in significant damages awards for the class and forced the police departments to implement new training requirements, tracking of individual officer conduct and new arrest procedures.
Languages
  • American Sign Language
Education
  • J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
    cum laude

  • M.Sc., New York University
  • B.A., George Mason University

Pro Bono

Throughout his career, Bennett has fought to protect the civil rights of numerous pro bono clients – particularly those involved in cases of police misconduct. He has successfully brought suit against several major police departments involving unconstitutional practices. Bennett has won a pro bono award every year he has been in practice.

Prior Experience

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Bennett worked in data analytics in US intelligence.

Additional Information

Bennett is a frequent lecturer at Georgetown University Law School, New York University Law School, and the University of Virginia Law School. He also works with multiple organizations supporting civil rights for the LGBTQ community.

Memberships and Affiliations

  • American Academy for the Advancement of Science, National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists
  • Chair of the Cloud Computing committee & Vice Chair of the Big Data committee, American Bar Association
  • Member, American Civil Liberties Union

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