Sid Mody
Partner
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Sid Mody is a former federal prosecutor and accomplished trial lawyer with over 60 jury trials to his name.
Drawing on his experience prosecuting cases dealing with cryptocurrency, cyber intrusions, ransomware, and computer fraud, Sid represents clients on a broad array of white collar cases including criminal, internal, and regulatory investigations. He also advises clients across the globe on sophisticated threats to their businesses and helps them design compliance programs, conduct reviews, and respond to government investigations and enforcement actions.
Sid joined O’Melveny from the National Security, Cybercrime and Money Laundering Division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, where he served as the office’s Lead Cyber Hacking and Intellectual Property Attorney, the Digital Currency Crimes Coordinator, and the sole National Security Cyber Specialist. Sid also held the title of Senior Litigation Counsel, overseeing the districts entire Litigation Technology Unit.
A first-chair trial lawyer with a specialty in complex white collar and computer fraud. Sid began his career as an Assistant District Attorney with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, where he was a key member of the White Collar Crimes Unit and prosecuted complex fraud cases, including all of the office’s Intellectual Property Crime and Computer Crimes matters.
Sid provides critical services to clients dealing with national security threats and sophisticated data breach issues, helping clients perform risk assessments, prepare incident response plans, comply with breach notification requirements, and respond to government inquiries and enforcement actions.
Sid also advises cryptocurrency and fintech clients on a range of risk mitigation and enforcement matters, including those associated with money laundering, tax fraud, and token offerings.
A frequent speaker around the world on Data Privacy and Cryptocurrency Investigations, Sid has a deep knowledge base in these areas that he uses when advising his clients.
Government Experience
- Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas (2017-2022)
- Assistant District Attorney, Tarrant County District Attorney's Office (2012-2017)
Admissions
Bar Admissions
- Texas
Court Admissions
- Northern District of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Education
- Texas Tech School of Law, J.D.
- Texas Tech Rawls College of Business, M.B.A.
- Texas A&M University, B.B.A.
Professional Activities
Speaker
- "The US Government's View of the Cryptocurrency Landscape," DC Blockchain Summit 2023 (March 21, 2023)
- "Privacy Law Trends Federal and State in 2023," IAPP Virtual Round Tables (March 16, 2023)
- “Ransomware Security Panel - How We Survived and Hunted Them!,” November 2022 Association of Business Technology Professionals of DFW Chapter Meeting (November 8, 2022)
- "The Inevitable Cybersecurity Intrusion: Where Does Your Client’s Data Actually End Up," Texas General Counsel Forum's 24th Annual Conference (November 3, 2022)
- “Growing Cybersecurity Issues Facing Companies and In House Counsel,” Southern Methodist University’s 30th Annual Corporate Counsel Symposium (October 28, 2022)
- Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (technology) Conference (October 24, 2022)
- "A Matter of Cybersecurity: Attack Trends, Forecasts & Red-Hot Topics for C-Leaders & In-House Counsel," Experian and O'Melveny Webinar (October 19, 2022)
In Private Practice
- Advising multiple cryptocurrency corporations on law enforcement inquiries
- Advising an Energy corporation on dealing with cybersecurity regulations
- Advising a corporate client to rewrite their privacy policy
- Representing a corporate client in regard to a corporate investigation in the United States based on employee embezzlement
- Representing a corporate client in regard to a corporate investigation involving potential FCA claims
- Representing a large Social Media company in litigation dealing with Privacy issues
- Advised a large video game developer on anti-money laundering policies dealing with in-game currency
- Advised a Blockchain technology company on anti-money laundering policies
- Advised a large Social Media company on Privacy Compliance issues
- Advised a Private Equity Investment company on an email phishing scheme
- Advised a Cryptocurrency company on multiple ransomware attacks
- Advised a corporate client on a M&A transaction revolving around a cybersecurity breach
- Advised a logistics company on a Department of Labor Investigation
In Government
While at the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, Sid prosecuted the following defendants:
- A CEO and Inventor of a cryptocurrency altcoin, who bilked investors out of millions. Making it one of first initial-coin offering cases charged in the country;
- A group who created more than 20 fraudulent cryptocurrency investing platforms and defrauded investors out of more than US$70 million;
- An individual who launched multiple international DDoS cyberattacks on media, bloggers, and legal-news aggregation websites, including Leagle.com;
- The founders of a cryptocurrency company, who raised US$24 million from more than 13,000 investors. Being the first charged crypto case in the country on Tax Evasion;
- A home security technician, who hacked into more than 200 customers’ accounts to gain live access to their home video feeds;
- A group of six people, who hacked into airline miles accounts, stealing millions of miles, and using those miles to purchase tickets they sold to unsuspecting passengers;
- Two individuals who used an illegally obtained point-of-sale device to load millions of dollars of fraudulent store credits onto gift cards over nearly two years;
- Founder of an online website, which was the leading source of online advertisements for prostitution and sex trafficking, which generated more than US$21 million in profit;
- An individual who operated an illegal cash-to-cryptocurrency conversion scheme;
- An individual who sold fentanyl over the dark web in exchange for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies;
- An individual who sold cocaine and black tar heroin over the dark web (the case was charged under Operation DisrupTor, a coordinated international effort to disrupt opioid trafficking on the dark web); and
- Eight members of the MS-13 international criminal gang on charges of racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and use, carry, and possession of a firearm during a violent crime.