Bruce Heiman engages in a wide-ranging federal counseling and lobbying practice. He has represented leading companies and trade associations in technology, financial services, postal, trade, transportation, and manufacturing industries. He is nationally ranked as a top government relations lawyer by both Chambers USA and The Legal 500. His clients praise him for his strategic advice and for his ability to build coalitions.
Bruce regularly assists clients design and implement a Washington, D.C. “game plan” to protect and promote their interests before Congress and federal departments and agencies. He helps them pursue legislation, implement enacted laws, and achieve their objectives in industry meetings as well as government negotiations. He also often helps clients assemble and advocate on behalf of a coalition of parties with similar objectives, including interest groups and think tanks.
Bruce has successfully worked to protect and promote American physical and digital communications and commerce. He was extensively involved in the passage of the last two major postal reform laws (the most recent in 2022) that supported a robust U.S. Postal Service delivering mail and packages six days a week. He also has twice helped the Internet become and remain what it is today -- first by permitting the use of strong encryption and later ensuring that the domain name system continued to be governed by stakeholders and not governments. He has also assisted a range of companies understand the laws and policies applying to their Internet and e-commerce activities and has worked to ensure that efforts to promote cyber security and protect critical information infrastructure are market-driven and industry-led.
In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, he worked to: ensure that companies providing essential services could continue to operate; obtain emergency funding for the US Postal Service so that it could continue providing reliable and affordable mail and package deliveries nationwide; and review and advise on safe back to work protocols.
He previously served on the firm's management committee and was practice area leader for the policy and regulatory practice for the last dozen years.
He served as legislative director and trade counsel to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York from 1984 to 1987.
He first joined the firm in 1980 after graduating with degrees in law and public policy from Harvard Law School and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Bruce is a member and previously served on the board of the Capitol Historical Society.
- “Allowing Companies to Hack Back: Good Security or Vigilante Justice?” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Panel, Washington, DC, March 27, 2019
- “US-EU Digital Agenda: A Trans-Atlantic Business Council and K&L Gates Symposium,” Washington, DC, December 10, 2018
- “IOT and Critical Infrastructures: A Collision of Fundamentals?” RSA Conference, San Francisco, CA, April 20, 2018
- “Cybersecurity: How to Address America’s ‘Greatest Threat,’” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Conference, Fort Lauderdale, FL, February 24, 2018
- “Decoding the Encryption Dilemma: A Conversation on Backdoors, Going Dark, and Cybersecurity,” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Panel, Washington, DC, March 31, 2016
- “Beyond Safe Harbor: Bridging the Transatlantic Privacy Divide,” Passcode (The Christian Science Monitor) Panel, Washington, DC, February 26, 2016
- “Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act....What Does It Really Mean?” Presentation at FBI/USSS/InfraGard Program, Washington, DC, February 17, 2016
- “Taxes, Transportation, Trade, Technology,” Presentation at Greater Washington Board of Trade Outlook Conference, Middleburg, VA, September 25, 2015
- “Sharing Cybersecurity Threat Info With the Government -- Should You Be Afraid To Do So?” Presentation at Johns Hopkins University 2nd Annual Cybersecurity Conference, Baltimore, MD, September 10, 2015
- “Crypto Wars 2.0: How Should The U.S. Balance Privacy and National Security?” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Panel, Washington, DC, March 12, 2015
- “Cyber Vigilante or Self Defense?,” RSA Conference, San Francisco, CA February 24, 2014
- “The Year of Location Privacy?” RSA Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 1, 2013
- “Cybercrime: The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act, and Beyond,” RSA Conference, San Francisco, CA, April 23, 2009
- “Three Rules of Data Security,” Hispanic National Bar Association Continuing Legal Education meeting, Washington, D.C., October 15, 2005
- “The FBI’s Encryption Backdoor Proposal -- We’ve Seen This Movie Before,” Information and Innovation Foundation briefing, Washington, DC, March 12, 2005
- “Historical Perspective on Encryption,” Senate Staff Briefing, Washington, DC, December 18, 2004
- “Cyber Security – The Right Way,” Center for Strategic and International Studies Forum, January 2004
- “Cyber Security Regulation is Here!,” RSA Security Conference, April 15, 2003
- “Cyber Security: What Consumers & Government Should Do,” FTC Consumer Information Security Workshop, May 20, 2002
- “The Right Way to Promote Cyber Security,” RSA Security Conference, February 19, 2002
- “SEC Issues Long-Awaited Climate Risk Disclosure Rule,” The National Law Review, 6 March 2024
- “Why This Section 230 Case?” The National Law Journal, 17 January 2023
- “Internet of Things Security and the FTC—Current And Possible Future Requirements,” Bloomberg Law, Privacy Law Watch, 31 October 2017
- “How A General Counsel Should Think About AI: Part 2,” Law360, 16 February 2017
- “How A General Counsel Should Think About AI: Part 1,” Law360, 15 February 2017
- “Are Your Encryption Keys Safe?” Los Angeles Daily Journal, 23 February 2016
- “Should cyberattack victims hack back?” San Francisco Chronicle, 22 April 2015
- "Pro Bono 2010: K&L Gates Turns on Water Works," The AmLaw Daily, 30 July 2010
- Mentioned, “Why This Section 230 Case?,” National Law Journal, 17 January 2023
