Catherine North Hounfodji

About Catherine North Hounfodji

I am a cybersecurity and privacy attorney, with a practice that spans counseling, incident response, and regulatory and litigation defense across industries, including critical infrastructure. My cybersecurity practice focused on helping companies prevent, manage, and defend against data security incidents, ultimately leading clients through the full incident response lifecycle—from preparation to urgent incident response and forensic coordination, to consumer and contractual notifications, to regulatory enforcement and class-action litigation. In high-pressure moments, I provide pragmatic crisis management that aligns legal, technical, and business priorities to reduce risk and preserve trust.On the privacy front, I advise on compliance with U.S. and global frameworks, including the CCPA/CPRA, GDPR, HIPAA, GLBA, state breach notification statutes, data minimization and retention rules, and industry standards. I regularly defend clients in regulatory inquiries, consumer class actions, and commercial disputes stemming from alleged privacy and data security violations.Beyond cyber and privacy, I counsel on consumer protection laws, retail operations, and advertising and unfair competition issues, working closely with in-house stakeholders to operationalize compliant, business-forward solutions. My background in engineering and education equips me to translate technical detail into clear legal strategy, collaborate effectively with security and IT teams, and build resilient compliance programs.

Experience

1. Partner

   Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

   Oct 2025 — Present · Houston, TX, US

   Catherine North Hounfodji provides data security incident response and crisis management to clients in a range of industries and defends them in any resulting litigation or regulatory enforcement. Catherine also regularly counsels and defends clients in matters relating to privacy, cybersecurity, class actions, state consumer privacy laws (such as the California Consumer Privacy Act), consumer protection laws, retail operations, loyalty and gift card programs, unclaimed property, and commercial disputes.

Education

• NOLS

  Mountaineering

  1996

• University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law

  Doctor of Law (J.D.)

  2006 — 2009

• Duke University

  Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.), Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

  1992 — 1996

Skills

• Teaching
• Westlaw
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Research
• Legal Issues
• Commercial Litigation
• Legal Research
• Legal Writing
• Litigation
• Trials
• Community Outreach
• Courts
• Fundraising
• Public Speaking
• Appeals
• Civil Litigation