Alicia Hawley is of counsel in the firm's e-Discovery Analysis & Technology (e-DAT) practice. An experienced litigator and white-collar criminal defense attorney, Certified eDiscovery Specialist and award-winning innovator, Alicia has nearly two decades of experience counseling clients on both routine and complex eDiscovery issues, best practices, case and narrative development, and fact investigations. Alicia regularly serves as coordinating discovery counsel on major litigations and government investigations and counsels the firm and clients on all phases of the EDRM including:
- Implementing defensible preservation practices and litigation holds;
- Managing ever-evolving data sources and communication tools;
- Navigating complex legal issues like possession, custody & control, privilege, proportionality, and seeking Rule 37(e) sanctions;
- Negotiating ESI protocols and discovery parameters; and
- Leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to identify and analyze key documents, maximize efficiency, lower costs, and create thoughtful narratives that support critical legal strategy.
As both a litigator and a technical professional, Alicia offers a distinctive perspective to clients on the practical implications of eDiscovery processes and procedures. She has represented Fortune 500 companies, banks, broker-dealers, C-suite executives, and financial institutions in investigations and prosecutions by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, the Ohio State Attorney General, and the Illinois Inspector General. She has also represented clients in a discovery counsel capacity in commercial civil disputes, employment litigation, trademark and trade secret litigation, and matters in front of the International Trade Commission.
Alicia recently argued and won a progressive decision regarding the use of technology-assisted review (TAR) in Livingston et al v. City of Chicago.
In 2021, Alicia won the Attorney Tech Evangelist Award—voted on by her peers and recognizing her as the one attorney in the United States who best:
- Leverages technology in unique and resourceful ways
- Collaborates with colleagues across departments to bust silos and drive innovation
- Invests in innovation within her organization and champions the adoption of new eDiscovery tools
- Keeps a pulse on changes emerging in the field and finds ways to use technology to prepare her organization for the next wave of eDiscovery
- Shares her knowledge with all facets of the eDiscovery community including writing articles on industry trends and speaking at events
In addition to her client work, Alicia is a well-regarded thought leader in TAR, eDiscovery case law, the nuts and bolts of eDiscovery, and artificial intelligence. She currently chairs two drafting teams for the Sedona Conference Working Group 1—on Initial Disclosures and Lifting Legal Holds—and previously served on the drafting team for the 2023 TAR Primer.
Alicia has lectured extensively on the topics of eDiscovery, trial advocacy, the Federal Rules of Evidence, and public speaking, and has held adjunct faculty positions at Northwestern University School of Law, Loyola University School of Law, Northwestern University, and Elmhurst University.
Alicia dedicates a notable portion of her practice to pro bono matters—recently featured on a July 2021 episode of Dateline NBC. Her pro bono experience includes a state post-conviction and federal habeas corpus petition alleging illegal search and seizure and judicial bias, an executive clemency petition, numerous successful asylum petitions for individuals fleeing persecution in their home countries, and representation of victims of domestic violence seeking Orders of Protection.
