Lori Lesser is Head of the Firm’s Intellectual Property Practice and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice. She advises corporations and private equity clients around the world on all aspects of intellectual property, artificial intelligence, technology, privacy and cybersecurity law, including M&A and other extraordinary transactions, joint ventures, litigation, licensing, counseling and compliance. She counsels clients in matters across industries, including software and tech, media and entertainment, financial services and fintech, consumer products, health care and life sciences, energy and industrials, and online/social media services.
Lori is recognized by Chambers USA in Band 1 for Technology (New York), where clients cite her “sharp eye for issues and details, and a pragmatic, commercial sensibility, all of which make her indispensable to clients”. She is also recognized in The Legal 500 as a “Leading Lawyer” for Technology Transactions, where clients praise her as “an exceptionally smart and knowledgeable lawyer,” as well as “technically brilliant and a pleasure to deal with”. Lori has been named “Privacy & Data Protection Lawyer of the Year” by Euromoney’s Women in Business Law Americas Awards, twice the “Information Technology Lawyer of the Year” in NYC by Best Lawyers in America, and No. 1 of the “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers in America” by MergerLinks last year.
Lori has also been recognized as a “Notable Woman in Law” (Crain’s New York), the “Top 50 Under 45” U.S. IP Lawyers (IP Law & Business), the “Top 45 Under 45” U.S. women lawyers (The American Lawyer), the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” (Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation), the “20 Most Influential Women in IP Law” (Law360), and an advisor “to watch” for Cyber Law (The Legal 500). MergerLinks ranked Lori No. 1 of the “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers in North America” in 2024, 2022, and 2021 and No. 2 in 2023 and 2020. She has received the Harvard Law School Association Award for service to HLS and the profession, the Burton Award for legal writing and the Award of Excellence from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Her IP work in private equity deals has been featured on the cover of IP Law & Business.
Lori has served as a David Rockefeller Fellow for New York City and serves on the boards of the Partnership Fund for New York City and Greater NY and the national advisory board of ChIPs, a global women’s technology leadership organization. She is a member of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s Dean’s Advisory Council, the Harvard Law School Dean’s Leadership Council, Extraordinary Women on Boards and Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women” Community.
Lori received a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and an A.B., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard College.