Martha Hirst

Associate

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London

Tel: +44 20 7786 5425

Overview

Martha Hirst is an associate in the firm’s Data Strategy & Security practice, and the White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. She advises ... Read Full Biography

Experience

- The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA), leading trade associations that represent the financial services industry, in preparing comment letters regarding regulatory developments in cybersecurity, operational resilience and artificial intelligence.
- A Fortune 500 firm on cybersecurity incident preparedness.
- A credit rating agency concerning reputational, regulatory, operational, and governance risks related to generative artificial intelligence.
- An ASX100 company on cyber incident preparedness.
- A Fortune 500 firm in response to a cybersecurity incident, and insider threat wire transfer fraud investigation. Including U.S. regulatory response and co-operation with U.S. law enforcement.
- Certain former directors and shareholders of Purdue Pharma, regarding prescription opioid litigation in various fora across the country, including a federal multi-district litigation and actions brought by states attorneys general.
- Representing Microsoft (as Amicus) in the New Jersey Supreme Court in its successful challenge of U.S. law enforcement requests for nearly contemporaneous communications via search warrants in lieu of a wiretap orders.
- Multiple international law firms in response to cybersecurity incidents caused by advanced persistent threat groups, including associated global regulatory and client response.
- An asset manager in response to a cybersecurity incident, including associated legal and regulatory notifications in the United States, United Kingdom and other jurisdictions.
- A global technology services company in response to a nation state cyber intrusion.
- An insurance management services company in a post-acquisition sanctions and anti-corruption compliance review.
- A multinational consumer goods company in an internal investigation into allegations of money laundering by authorities in a Middle Eastern country.
- A large Spanish-based manufacturing company in a post-acquisition compliance integration project, involving review of global sales intermediaries in over 40 jurisdictions.
- A Germany-based manufacturing company with compliance due diligence on its global partners.

Martha Hirst is an associate in the firm’s Data Strategy & Security practice, and the White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. She advises companies on managing cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, operational resilience, law enforcement surveillance, and data privacy risks, and related incident response, internal investigation and regulatory defence work.Ms. Hirst has supported clients through a number of high-profile cybersecurity incidents, including in the UK, Europe and U.S. She has experience advising international financial institutions, technology corporations and law firms, with a particular focus on multijurisdictional matters involving nation-state and advanced persistent threat groups. Ms. Hirst also has experience conducting international anti-corruption investigations, and providing economic sanctions advice.Ms. Hirst is a co-author of “Recently Enacted AI Law in Colorado: Yet Another Reason to Implement an AI Governance Program,” NYU PCCE (June, 2024); “Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses the EU Artificial Intelligence Act,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (December, 2023); “The EU AI Act – Navigating the EU’s Legislative Labyrinth,” NYU PCCE (December, 2023); “Eight GDPR Questions when Adopting Generative AI,” NYU Compliance & Enforcement (October, 2023); “Legal Risks of Using AI Voice Analytics for Customer Service,” NYU Compliance & Enforcement (January, 2023); “Debevoise Discusses What the GDPR Can Tell Us About State Privacy Laws,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (December, 2022); “California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code Act Expands Businesses’ Privacy Obligations Regarding Minors,” NYU Compliance & Enforcement (September, 2022); “Data, cyber security and AI compliance: managing the evolving landscape,” The Drawdown(August, 2022); “UK, EU & US Russian sanctions considerations for insurers,” The Insurer (May, 2022); “Bank Melli opinion: The EU Blocking Regulation grows teeth,” Financial Institutions Sanctions Compliance (May, 2021); “JCPOA – A New Hope,” WorldECR (February, 2021); “Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses UK’s Autonomous Sanctions Regime,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (January, 2021); “UK Introduces Magnitsky-Style Human Rights Sanctions Regime,” Compliance & Enforcement (July, 2020) and “The EPPO and International Co-Operation –– New Kid on the Block,” Compliance & Enforcement (December, 2019).Ms. Hirst joined Debevoise as a trainee solicitor in 2017. She graduated from Peterhouse, University of Cambridge in 2016 with a B.A. (Hons) and subsequently completed the LPC at BPP University Law School.Ms. Hirst was admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales in 2019, and qualified as a Solicitor-Advocate, with rights of audience (civil), in 2022.She is currently on secondment with a firm client.