Former Assistant US Attorney Allen O’Rourke has joined Womble Carlyle’s Charlotte office. Drawing upon his experience prosecuting cybercrime, he will help clients facing data breaches and cyber-attacks.

O’Rourke spent the previous six years at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. There, he became a Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) prosecutor and a Team Leader in the office’s Cyber Unit. In this role, O’Rourke held a Top Secret security clearance and led numerous investigations into corporate data breaches, business email compromise schemes, “dark web” criminal forums, money laundering using Bitcoin, terrorist use of the Internet, and other cybercrime. He received two Special Achievement Awards from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia for his work to combat cybercrime.

At Womble Carlyle, O’Rourke will focus his practice on cybersecurity preparedness, data breach response and investigation, and defending clients faced with civil litigation, regulatory action, or government investigation related to data breaches and cyber-attacks.  Added to his cyber practice, O’Rourke is an experienced trial and appellate attorney who represents clients in a broad range of civil and criminal matters. He handled over 50 trials in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia as well as countless appeals, motion hearings, and grand jury investigations in state and federal court. 

 “Cybersecurity increasingly has become a point of concern for our clients in recent years, and those threats only are going to grow over time,” said Jeff Hay, Managing Partner of Womble Carlyle’s Charlotte office. “Adding Allen to our Cyber & Privacy Law Team, which already includes nationally recognized cybersecurity attorney Ted Claypoole, makes an already strong team even stronger.”

O’Rourke said, “I’m delighted to join such a talented group of lawyers at Womble and look forward to helping our clients navigate the many challenges of today’s cyber threat landscape.”

O’Rourke is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School.  He grew up in Greenville, SC.

About Womble Carlyle

Womble Carlyle is a 530-attorney law firm that corporate clients rely on to provide core legal services, such as Complex Business Litigation, Mass Torts, Intellectual Property, Corporate & Securities, Finance and Real Estate.

Our focus is the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Silicon Valley markets, and from this footprint, we serve clients in matters across the country and across the world. Clients trust us because we understand their businesses, focus on their successes, demonstrate a commitment to help, and deliver value for their dollars they spend on us. 

Womble Carlyle has a transatlantic alliance with leading UK firm Bond Dickinson to provide clients with domestic legal, regulatory and business advice in both the US and UK Thanks to Womble Carlyle’s alliance with Lex Mundi, the world’s largest association of independent law firms, we also can offer clients access to quality-tested local counsel in more than 120 countries. Lex Mundi provides seamless access to local attorneys and market knowledge throughout the globe.

Womble Carlyle’s offices are located in: Atlanta; Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Silicon Valley, Calif., Washington, D.C.; Charlottesville and Tysons Corner, Va.; Baltimore; and Wilmington, Del.