Jennifer S. Geetter is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in Firm’s Washington, D.C., office. She has been ranked by Chambers USA as a leader in her field. Jennifer is a frequent speaker and author on areas within her practice, including life sciences and biomedical innovation, financial relationships and aggregate spend, data sharing strategies and data privacy and security.

Life Sciences & Biomedical Innovation

Jennifer routinely advises global life sciences and health care clients on legal issues attendant to biomedical innovation. Her clients include a broad range of pharmaceutical, device, health plan, institutional health care provider, and others. Her work on behalf of these clients focuses her practice on emerging biotechnology and safety issues, research design and compliance, research program structure and operational and compliance infrastructure, personalized medicine, formulary compliance, scientific review and research misconduct proceedings, and emerging issues in the future, unspecified use of biospecimens and data.

Financial Relationships & Aggregate Spend

Jennifer advises life sciences companies on best practices in financial relationship management, including advice on state and federal Sunshine Law initiatives. She works with institutional health care providers in the development of comprehensive, enterprise-wide individual and institutional conflict of interest management programs and policies, and has been involved in the development of innovative IT solutions to financial interest reporting and management.

Data Sharing Strategies

Jennifer is a leader in the Firm’s data sharing practice. Jennifer works regularly with global clients on development and implementing data sharing strategies and platforms to achieve business objectives, particularly in connection with biomedical innovation, health care reform, electronic health record implementation, and quality assurance requirements. She actively advises clients on data sharing architecture, data and biospecimen collection and repositories, data sharing collaborations and partnerships, the creation of health information exchanges, data license and health information technology agreements, and other strategic health information and health information technology transactions.

Data Privacy and Security

Jennifer advises companies on global privacy and data security laws. She regularly advises health care companies regarding compliance with HIPAA, the Privacy Act of 1974, and other federal and state health information privacy laws. She prepares enterprise-wide privacy and data security programs and policies for multinational businesses, including businesses with portfolio companies spanning multi-regulatory environments, and regularly counsels businesses regarding the collection, use, retention, disclosure, transfer and disposal of personal information. Jennifer helps companies proactively protect private information and, in the event of a breach, she helps clients respond and remediate.

Jennifer chairs the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee for the Washington, D.C., office. In that capacity, Jennifer directs and manages the office’s pro bono and community service efforts. Jennifer’s own pro bono practices focuses on human rights and immigration assistance. She has had the honor of working with clients referred by a number of leading human rights organizations, including the Tahirih Justice Center and Human Rights First. Jennifer sits on the Board of Advocates of Human Rights First, as well as other non-profit boards and committees of local non-profit organizations. She received the Firm's Outstanding Achievement Award for Commitment to Pro Bono and Service to the Community in 2004. Jennifer is active in her community sitting on professional boards and committees of a number of leading non-profit organizations.

Jennifer is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, New York and Washington, D.C. She is a member of the Firm’s data affinity working group, life sciences and personalized medicine affinity groups, and the Israeli practice group. She also heads the Firm’s Life Sciences Service Organization Initiative. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Health and Life Sciences Law and of the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA). Until recently, she served as a co-chair of AHLA’s Life Sciences section. She has also published a chapter in the American Lawyers Association book entitled “Fundamentals of Life Sciences Law: Drugs, Devices and Biotech.” Jennifer is a member of the Genetics Policy Institute legal advisory board. She has been an invited panelist on data sharing before the Institute of Medicine. Jennifer has maintained an academic faculty appointment since 2009 and is currently an adjunct professor at Georgetown University School of Law.