Location-Data Demands After Chatrie: What Custodians Can Challenge and How

Laura-Kate Bernstein, Legal Director | ZwillGen

Laura-Kate Bernstein is a Legal Director in ZwillGen’s Washington, D.C. office, where she represents technology companies and online platforms responding to U.S. and international law enforcement requests and third-party subpoenas. A former federal prosecutor with more than a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice, she counsels clients on the Stored Communications Act, the Pen Register Statute, cross-border data requests, and law enforcement response strategy, and she litigates disputes over compelled disclosures and government process.

• Education & Credentials

Laura-Kate earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2012. She served as a judicial law clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

• Recognition & Leadership

Laura-Kate was named to the 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America in the Commercial Disputes – Data, Cybersecurity category. At the Department of Justice, she served as the Civil Rights Division Criminal Section’s leading in-house adviser on electronic evidence gathering, and she trained federal prosecutors and investigators across the country on the Stored Communications Act, the Pen Register Statute, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

• Professional Involvement

Laura-Kate writes on law enforcement access to data and online safety. She co-authored ZwillGen’s July 2026 analysis of the Chatrie decision, “Supreme Court Holds Geofence Warrants Are Fourth Amendment Searches, But Leaves Other Important Questions for Lower Courts.” Her other articles include “TAKE IT DOWN Compliance: Navigating Unanswered Questions” (2026), “Nonconsensual Intimate Imagery on Your Platform? New Federal Law Says to ‘Take It Down.'” (2025), and “California Says No Dice: Judge Dismisses State Claims in Social Casino MDL” (2025).

• Experience

Laura-Kate joined ZwillGen’s Litigation team in 2025 and works on its Law Enforcement & Surveillance practice. She guides companies through compelled disclosure disputes, government process, and interactions with federal and state investigators, drawing on her extensive Department of Justice experience.
At the Department of Justice, she held senior roles in the Civil Rights Division and the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). She advised on electronic evidence gathering, government surveillance, cross-border data sharing, and cybercrime policy, and she litigated complex constitutional and statutory issues nationwide. Most recently a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division’s
Criminal Section, she led federal investigations and prosecutions through jury trials and prosecuted cyber-enabled and fraud-related offenses.
Her litigation practice also covers class actions, mass arbitrations, and other disputes involving privacy, cybersecurity, and consumer protection, with an emphasis on resolving matters efficiently while limiting business disruption. She counsels technology companies and online platforms on the TAKE IT DOWN Act and other emerging online safety and content moderation requirements.

SESSION 1 – Chatrie and the Custodian: Standing to Object to Demands | Laura-Kate Bernstein | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session examines the Supreme Court’s decision in Chatrie v. United States and what it means for carriers, app providers, and other companies that hold location data. Attorneys will learn why the Court rejected the third-party doctrine for Location History, why custodians often lack standing to raise their users’ Fourth Amendment rights, and the statutory and First Amendment arguments practitioners use instead. Attendees leave able to test any location-data demand against Chatrie, identify the governing circuit standard, and advise clients on whether and how to object.

SESSION 2 – Responding to a Demand: Objections, Sequencing, and Escalation | Laura-Kate Bernstein | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session gives custodian counsel a step-by-step playbook for evaluating and challenging government location-data demands after Chatrie. Attorneys will learn how to identify the legal instrument, spot particularity and overbreadth problems at each step of a geofence warrant, and sequence objections from informal negotiation to a motion to quash under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) and appellate review. Attendees leave with concrete objection categories, a decision-tree framework, and a clear view of where demands are heading as geofence requests shift to other custodians.