Patrick Burke is a trailblazing privacy, cybersecurity, eDiscovery, and fintech lawyer whose career spans corporate leadership, government regulation, and academia. As Deputy Superintendent at the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), he founded its Office of Financial Innovation, expanding oversight of fintech, cryptocurrency, and cybersecurity.

Among the first U.S. lawyers to advise on European data protection and fintech regulation, Burke later became the first C-suite Data & Privacy Officer for a major adtech agency, shaping policies and technical processes for compliant use of artificial intelligence and large-scale consumer data. Fortune 500 clients trust his pragmatic counsel balancing compliance and innovation.

Career Highlights

• Corporate Leadership: Chief Data & Privacy Officer, Havas North America (2022–25) — led privacy and cybersecurity compliance for global advertising operations, built NIST-aligned incident response programs, and negotiated complex data agreements.

• Regulatory Leadership: At DFS, supervised cyber exams, increased approved BitLicense holders fivefold, oversaw the first regulated stablecoins, and expanded fintech and algorithmic underwriting oversight.

• Global Law Firm Practice: Chaired Data Tech & Cybersecurity at Phillips Nizer (2019–21). Served global clients practicing at Norton Rose Fulbright, Seyfarth Shaw, and Reed Smith, including embedding legal teams into corporate SOCs for real-time breach response.

  Representative clients: Abbott Labs • American Airlines • Amgen • Citibank • CNA • Deere & Co. • Gilead Sciences • Havas Health • HSBC • Johnson Controls • Medium Rare • Omnicom • PNC Bank • Precise Biometrics • Roc Nation

• E.U. Counsel: European in-house counsel at Guidance Software (2006–13), advising on cross-border investigations under the EU Data Protection Directive (precursor to GDPR). 

• Academia:  Adjunct law faculty, Cardozo Law School – where he founded the Cardozo Data Law Initiative – and Georgetown Law eDiscovery Academy,

Admissions: U.S. Supreme Court; Second Circuit; Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; New York State Courts.