Tina Sciocchetti

My focus

I represent clients in state and federal investigations, providing counsel across a broad spectrum including healthcare, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) compliance, false claims/qui tam defense, ethics/lobbying, and professional licensure actions. Additionally, I have a particular focus on representing colleges, universities, and secondary schools in matters relating to student affairs, including Title IX defense, and New York State Education Law 129-B.

Before joining Nixon Peabody, I spent 17 years as an assistant US attorney in Washington, DC, and Albany, prosecuting civil and criminal matters. I thereafter served as an executive director at the New York State Education Department in the Office of Higher Education, where I worked closely with department leaders and the Board of Regents. In that role, I oversaw educator licensure matters and investigations of schools and district personnel, and served as the department’s chief privacy officer, managing student data privacy issues. 

Government Investigations/Qui Tam Defense 

I focus on complex civil and criminal matters involving government investigations, white-collar criminal defense, qui tam litigation, and regulatory compliance. This includes conducting all manner of internal investigations, and responding to subpoenas, inquiries, and search warrants from investigative bodies, providing grand jury counseling, coordinating and negotiating criminal settlements such as deferred and non-prosecution agreements, resisting or defending debarment proceedings for government contractors and conducting “soup to nuts” trials and administrative proceedings. 

Education 

I also focus on counseling educational institutions, particularly in the areas of sexual- and gender-based harassment, student conduct and disciplinary proceedings, school safety, and disability rights compliance. 

My experience also includes on-campus work as a director of student wellbeing, investigation and response to current and historical sexual misconduct, auditing student conduct and safety programs, developing effective institutional policies and practices and advising trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, and students on a variety of issues. I also help schools respond to investigations by the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, the Clery Compliance Division, and the New York State Office of Campus Safety. 

Data Privacy 

I provide comprehensive counseling regarding educational data privacy, compliance with records retention and privacy laws, and responding to data security breaches at educational institutions and businesses.

Representative experience

Presentations

• “Criminal Law for Civil Practitioners,” NDNY Federal Bar Association Annual CLE, Albany, New York, December 2019
• “Higher Education Legal Compliance Update,” 2019 Albany College and University Breakfast Series by The Bonadio Group, Schenectady, NY, July 2019
• “Beyond FERPA: What California and New York Require of EdTech Providers,” Privacy + Security Forum, Washington, DC, October 2016
• “Interacting with the Government in Data Breaches,” IAPP Global Privacy Summit, Washington, DC, April 2016

Publications

• “Private school subject to Title IX for PPP loan,“ Private & Independent Schools Alert, June 23, 2022
• “The Legal Project: Providing legal services for Albany’s most vulnerable people,” NP Insights, March 21, 2022
• “FBI issues stark warning to hospitals regarding ransomware attacks,” Data Privacy & Healthcare Alert, February 14, 2022
• “Supreme Court issues highly anticipated ruling in defined contribution plan class action,” Benefits Alert, January 26, 2022
• “Appellate Court upholds constitutionality of NY’s campus sexual assault law,” Higher Education Alert, September 30, 2019
• “N.Y. extends mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse by school staff and volunteers to private schools,” Education Law Alert, December 13, 2018
• “Proposed Title IX regulations – What institutions need to know,” Higher Education Alert, December 9, 2018
• “NY’s High Court holds hearsay can support findings of campus sexual assault,” Higher Education Alert, October 22, 2018
• “New York court concludes university’s determination of dating violence was arbitrary and capricious,” Higher Education Alert, May 9, 2018
• “Uneven recognition of gender identity discrimination claims under Title VII and Title IX,” Higher Education Alert, April 9, 2018
• “Higher Education Should Note Recent Title VII Rulings” Law360, April 5, 2018
• “Seeing #MeToo and other online reports of sexual misconduct involving your students and faculty? Tips for addressing allegations successfully,” Higher Education Alert, February 7, 2018
• “Department of Education withdraws Obama-era Title IX Guidance: What does it mean going forward?” Higher Education Alert, September 25, 2017
• “Florida ‘Black Box’ Ruling: Game Changer for Vehicle Tech,” Law360, April 26, 2017
• “Proposed Class Action Data Breach Suit Against Health Insurer Quashed for Lack of Sufficient Injury,” Pratt’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report, September 2016
• “The Risk of Data Misuse by Health Care Co. Employees,” Law360, May 25, 2016

Looking ahead

What do you see on the horizon?

Increased regulatory enforcement is emerging in all sectors, and public and private entities must be prepared with experienced, effective counsel when the government comes calling.