ALAN CHARLES RAUL is the lead Global Coordinator of Sidley’s Privacy, Data Security and
Information Law practice. Mr. Raul has a broad litigation and counseling practice that covers government
regulation and enforcement, administrative law and corporate compliance, privacy and information law.
Mr. Raul’s practice involves federal, state and international privacy issues, including global data
protection programs, information security, cybersecurity and representation in connection with data
breaches. He also represents clients with respect to Internet Law, communications privacy, E-Commerce,
social media, children's privacy, marketing, advertising and consumer protection issues.
Sidley has been named one of the leading national “Privacy and Data Security” practices in Chambers
Global and Chambers USA, and Mr. Raul is ranked in the top tier of Privacy and Data Security
practitioners. He has been named as a leading international Internet and E-Commerce Lawyer in Who’s
Who Legal. Mr. Raul was also named to Ethisphere Institute’s “Attorneys Who Matter” in Data
ALAN CHARLES RAUL
SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP 2
Privacy/Security, which recognizes lawyers with the highest commitment to public service, legal
community engagement and academic involvement.
A significant portion of Mr. Raul’s practice also involves government regulation and enforcement,
including advocacy in court, before federal and state agencies, and Congressional Committees. Building
on his experience as General Counsel of two cabinet agencies, and as Associate White House Counsel,
Mr. Raul has handled significant regulatory and enforcement matters across a spectrum of federal and
state agencies and program areas. Mr. Raul frequently represents clients in the defense, media and
telecommunications, financial, professional services, consumer product, pharmaceutical, food and
agriculture industries. Mr. Raul maintains active security clearances.
Mr. Raul served as Vice Chairman of the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, a
panel established by the legislation implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, from
March 2006 through January 2008. Mr. Raul was appointed to this part-time position by President George
W. Bush following confirmation by the United States Senate. The Board advises the President and heads
of Executive departments and agencies, and reports to Congress, to ensure that privacy and civil liberties
are appropriately considered in the development and implementation of laws, regulations and Executive
branch policies related to efforts to protect the Nation against terrorism. In a December 2001 article in the
Los Angeles Times, Mr. Raul had recommended the creation of a similar council to advise the President on
the civil liberties implications of anti-terrorism measures. More recently, Mr. Raul has published pieces in
the Washington Post, New York Times, and The Hill exhorting the President and Congress to re-invigorate
the Privacy Board.
Mr. Raul previously served in the White House as Associate Counsel to the President (1986-1988). During
his tenure as Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan, Mr. Raul represented the White House in
connection with the Iran-Contra investigations. He subsequently served as General Counsel of the Office
of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President (1988-1989), and then was appointed
by President George H. W. Bush, with Senate confirmation, as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (1989-1993).
Mr. Raul is the author of the book, Privacy and the Digital State: Balancing Public Information and
Personal Privacy (Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001). He is also a co-author of the book, Administrative
Law of the European Union: Oversight (ABA 2008). Mr. Raul has appeared frequently as a legal
commentator on television and radio, and testifies before Congress, on various issues.
Mr. Raul also writes and speaks regularly on Internet and information law topics, “junk science,” and
federal regulatory policy, as well as on constitutional, political and social issues. He has published
numerous articles in legal periodicals, as well as pieces in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los
Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Times, Politico, The Hill and various Bloomberg BNA
publications. He is the lead author of “Regulatory Daubert: A Proposal to Enhance Judicial Review of
Agency Science by Incorporating Daubert Principles into Administrative Law,” in the Journal of Law and
Contemporary Problems (Fall 2003).
Mr. Raul serves as a Board Member and Secretary of the National China Garden Foundation, which is a
non-profit organization established to support the joint efforts of the U.S. and Chinese governments to
build and operate a China Garden in the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The Garden is
intended to serve as a cultural exchange and as a symbol of bilateral friendship between the two
countries.
Mr. Raul was graduated from Harvard College (A.B. 1975), Harvard University’s Kennedy School of
Government (M.P.A. 1977), and Yale Law School (J.D. 1980). He clerked for Judge Malcolm R. Wilkey of
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 1991, Mr. Raul co-founded the “Lawyers
Have Heart” 10K run and walk, to benefit the American Heart Association, and he continues his active
involvement with the event. Mr. Raul lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary, and three children.