Snehal Desai

Overview

Snehal Desai is an associate in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm's San Francisco office. She is a Lead Associate of the Privacy and Cybersecurity Team and the firm’s Canada desk. She is also an active member of the Advertising Team, the Retail, Fashion, and Beauty Team, the Food and Beverage Team, and the Technology & Commercial Transactions Team.

Areas of Practice

Snehal Desai helps companies launch cutting-edge products and services in an increasingly complex and demanding legal and regulatory environment. She is the go-to outside product and commercial counsel for some of the world’s most prominent technology, gaming, social media, fintech, healthcare, retail and food service companies.

During multiple secondments as in-house product and commercial counsel, Snehal gained a deep understanding of business operations and the effective balancing of legal requirements and business realities. She leverages that knowledge and experience to work directly with internal business units, from engineering, quality control, and product management to advertising, marketing and communication, on the full range of legal issues that come into play during the conception, development and implementation of a new product or service. In particular, Snehal advises on a wide range of issues including privacy and data protection, advertising and brand recognition, digital transformation and cloud computing arrangements, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into products and services, and technology licensing and distribution arrangements. Snehal also provides guidance on the privacy, technology, and commercial aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint venture arrangements, financings, and divestitures.

Snehal’s experience includes:

Advertising: Snehal advises clients in conducting advertising campaigns, including environmental and sustainability claims, as well as other types of brand marketing claims. She also helps clients with the legal aspects of contests and sweepstakes and promotions.

Technology and Commercial Transactions: Snehal drafts and negotiates agreements regarding software, SaaS, technology services, logistics, marketing, outsourcing, intellectual property licensing, sourcing and distribution, procurement, strategic alliances, and other commercial and transactional matters.

Corporate Transactions: Snehal assists in various types of corporate transactions, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, as a privacy and cybersecurity specialist.

Privacy and Data Protection: Snehal counsels clients on compliance with domestic and international privacy laws and regulations and helps clients implement compliance programs. She helps clients with drafting privacy policies and online terms of service for websites and mobile applications. She also counsels clients regarding cybersecurity breach response and best practices for mitigation.

Snehal is a passionate advocate for minority-owned small businesses and non-profits. She has an active pro bono practice focused on helping small businesses and non-profits with commercial contracts and privacy issues.