Wellington-based Joseph Fitzgerald has been promoted to Partner at Wotton + Kearney’s Cyber, Privacy and Data Security team.

Mr Fitzgerald, who has worked in New Zealand and the UK, advises large sporting, health, education and infrastructure bodies, as well as SME and non-profit entities on cyber and data security risks.

He addresses incident response, cyber insurance coverage, data privacy and data protection and was last year a finalist in the Young Insurance Professional of the Year category at the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) Industry Awards.

“He is an absolute star,” Managing Partner of Wotton + Kearney New Zealand Antony Holden said. “He’s advised on the full range of cyber and data incidents, spanning data breaches, network compromises, malware and ransomware infections, and various bank and payment frauds.”

The Cyber, Privacy and Data Security team has also this month added Special Counsel Nicole Gabryk and Cyber Forensic Manager Avram Lum, and in December Wotton + Kearney partnered with Canopy to offer a tech-enabled cyber forensic solution to its clients.

Leader of the firm’s cyber practice Kieran Doyle says he worked alongside Mr Fitzgerald on some of the largest and most complex cyber incidents in Australia and other jurisdictions.

“I’m delighted to see our market-leading cyber team continue to grow strongly to meet our clients ever-evolving cyber, privacy and data security needs,” he said.