Weslen Lakins
Weslen Lakins
Weslen T. Lakins is a cybersecurity and data privacy attorney in Lewis Thomason’s Knoxville office. His practice focuses on regulatory compliance, breach response, data protection counseling, and technology transactions, with a particular emphasis on privacy program development and vendor risk management. Weslen holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) credential and regularly advises clients navigating complex legal regimes such as the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), the Tennessee Information Protection Act (TIPA), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Weslen has counseled regional banks, SaaS vendors, and financial technology companies through all phases of cybersecurity incidents, from containment and forensic investigation to breach notification and regulatory communications. He routinely drafts compliant breach notices and coordinates response efforts across legal, forensic, public relations, and insurance stakeholders. His transactional experience includes negotiating data processing agreements (DPAs), standard contractual clauses (SCCs), and cross-border transfer frameworks, embedding National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and ISO/IEC 27001 control language to enhance information security posture and accelerate procurement processes.
In addition to his breach response and transactional work, Weslen conducts privacy impact assessments (PIAs), advises on data minimization and retention strategies, and develops privacy-by-design protocols for new product rollouts. He has helped clients implement enterprise privacy governance programs tailored to state, federal, and international regulatory requirements, including those applicable to financial services, real estate, and insurance sectors. His counsel is grounded in both legal precision and technical understanding, with working knowledge of Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Swift, and React.
Weslen is an active member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), the American Bar Association (ABA), and the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA), where he currently serves as CLE Chair for the East Tennessee region of the Young Lawyers Division.
Weslen has counseled regional banks, SaaS vendors, and financial technology companies through all phases of cybersecurity incidents, from containment and forensic investigation to breach notification and regulatory communications. He routinely drafts compliant breach notices and coordinates response efforts across legal, forensic, public relations, and insurance stakeholders. His transactional experience includes negotiating data processing agreements (DPAs), standard contractual clauses (SCCs), and cross-border transfer frameworks, embedding National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and ISO/IEC 27001 control language to enhance information security posture and accelerate procurement processes.
In addition to his breach response and transactional work, Weslen conducts privacy impact assessments (PIAs), advises on data minimization and retention strategies, and develops privacy-by-design protocols for new product rollouts. He has helped clients implement enterprise privacy governance programs tailored to state, federal, and international regulatory requirements, including those applicable to financial services, real estate, and insurance sectors. His counsel is grounded in both legal precision and technical understanding, with working knowledge of Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Swift, and React.
Weslen is an active member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), the American Bar Association (ABA), and the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA), where he currently serves as CLE Chair for the East Tennessee region of the Young Lawyers Division.