Nicole Kardell

SPECIAL COUNSEL

"Sometimes clients need creative solutions. The beauty of our firm is that we can be creative, flexible, and find ways to make the law work for our clients."

Overview

Nicole Kardell approaches her legal practice from both a global and a business perspective: she advises clients in a way that factors the broader ramifications of the legal issue before them, in addition to practical considerations. In this, she strives for effective and efficient advocacy.

A member of Ifrah Law’s Privacy Law team, Nicole is a certified privacy professional with expertise in European privacy law (CIPP/E), in particular the GDPR. She helps companies to navigate the changing face of privacy regulations and to keep their business practices and partnerships in compliance with the law both domestically and abroad. She regularly advises clients on:

  • Public-facing privacy statements
  • Internal privacy policies
  • Data protection agreements
  • Data retention practices
  • Data breach response procedures
  • Employee privacy training

Helping to serve the firm’s litigation and enforcement practices, Nicole’s work also includes federal agency investigations and enforcement, bid protests and business litigation, and white collar defense. She has worked on matters involving the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Offices of Inspector General of several federal agencies, and Attorneys General of numerous states. Nicole also has worked on many matters in which clients have proactively opposed government action – before administrative as well as judicial bodies. When necessary, she has taken policy issues to congressional offices and committees.

Some of her representative matters include:

  • For a U.S.-based eSports company that operates in a number of jurisdictions around the globe, Nicole counseled on GDPR compliance measures and requirements, helping the company to revise its policies, notices and consents, identify E.U.-based compliance support, and strategize compliance best practices for their business.
  • For a U.S.-based online advertising company that is regularly rated as one of the top CPA networks, with clients worldwide, Nicole helped the company on ground-up GDPR compliance, including internal policies, partner contracts, customer-facing notices and consents, and compliance best practices. She continues to advise the company on GDPR compliance issues as questions arise.

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Awards + Recognitions

Chambers Award Logo for Ifrah Law

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., University of Virginia, Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, Journal of Law and Politics, 2004
  • B.A., University of Virginia, Phi Beta Kappa, Graduated with Distinction, 1998

Admitted to Practice
  • District of Columbia
  • New York

Previous Experience
  • Greenberg Traurig
  • Dewey & LeBoeuf

Professional Community
  • Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E) Certification, International Association of Privacy Professionals
  • Former President and Member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance Francaise de Charlottesville
  • Former Member of the Board of Trustees for the International School of Charlottesville
  • Regular Contributor for the Foundation for Economic Education

Languages
  • English
  • French

Nicole's Insights

Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws
Jan 18, 2024

Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws

By: Nicole Kardell
2024, AI, and the Harnessing of the Wild West
Jan 10, 2024

2024, AI, and the Harnessing of the Wild West

By: Nicole Kardell
Ad Tech in Europe: What Does the Future Hold?
Dec 4, 2023

Ad Tech in Europe: What Does the Future Hold?

By: Nicole Kardell
Plunging into the unknown: companies should look to sound privacy practices as they integrate AI
Oct 24, 2023

Plunging into the unknown: companies should look to sound privacy practices as they integrate AI

By: Nicole Kardell

Case Studies

Securing Dismissal of a False Claims Qui Tam Suit

Jeff Ifrah successfully represented global health care leader Merck in a False Claims Act qui tam suit and got the case dismissed.

The suit involved a whistleblower that worked for a health care buying company (a group purchasing organization that purchases supplies and drugs). Terminated from the buying group, the employee alleged she was retaliated against because of issues she raised about the buying process.

The case was brought before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and 18 drug companies were named as defendants in an alleged bribery scheme. Jeff represented Merck, which was one of the named defendants. He filed a successful motion to dismiss the complaint, based on the former employee’s alarming lack of specificity in her claim.

Not only was our motion to dismiss successful, it was efficient: Jeff won the dismissal roughly one year after Merck and the other defendants were originally served.

(United States ex rel. Fitzgerald v. Novation LLC, et al., S.D. Tex., No. 3:03-CV-01589))

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