Profile
Tim Butler helps companies thrive by developing tailored strategies to address their regulatory compliance challenges and vigorously defending them in government enforcement actions and bet-the-company lawsuits.
A former prosecuting attorney for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and former senior official in the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, Tim has led the defense of dozens of government investigations and enforcement actions brought by the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the various state attorneys general. Tim also regularly defends clients in bet-the-company lawsuits, including complex business disputes and consumer class actions alleging privacy, false advertising, and unfair or deceptive business practice claims.
Tim is an experienced guide for companies struggling with regulatory complexity. He offers clear advice that helps his clients meet the demands of the ever-growing set of laws and regulations governing data privacy and cybersecurity, advertising and marketing practices, and consumer financial products and services. Clients rely on Tim’s business-minded and practical strategies to address their most difficult regulatory compliance challenges.
A graduate of the University of Chicago and Stanford Law School, Tim is a prolific author and regularly speaks to industry and trade groups about the evolving privacy landscape, about cutting-edge issues affecting payments and fintech companies, and about developments at the FTC, the CFPB, and within the state attorneys general community.
You can follow Tim on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-a-butler/
Concentrations
- Defending complex business disputes and consumer class actions
- Defending government enforcement actions brought by the CFPB, FTC, and state attorneys general
- Building and maintaining data privacy compliance programs
- Building and maintaining advertising and marketing compliance programs
- Building and maintaining regulatory compliance programs for payments and fintech companies
Capabilities
Experience
- Counseled various clients on the full range of federal and state laws governing data privacy and cybersecurity, advertising and marketing practices, and consumer financial products and services.°
- Obtained complete dismissal in a case alleging violations of a franchise agreement’s non-compete provision by a former franchisee.°
- Obtained a favorable settlement for a financial services firm in a data breach class action relating to a web application vulnerability that affected over 600,000 consumers; obtained a no-action position from the FTC in a parallel government investigation.°
- Obtained an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit quashing a civil investigative demand (CID) issued by the CFPB.°
- Obtained a no-action position from the CFPB in an investigation of an online public record provider’s compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).°
- Obtained a no-action position from the CFPB in an investigation of a mortgage broker’s compliance with the MAPS Rule (Reg N), the MARS Rule (Reg O), and the CFPA’s prohibition of unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices (UDAAP).°
- Obtained a settlement for a human resources firm in a consumer protection action brought by Georgia’s attorney general.°
- Obtained a settlement for a payments company in data breach investigation brought by Massachusetts’s attorney general.°
- Obtained partial dismissal for a financial services firm in a consumer protection action brought by Virginia’s attorney general.°
- Obtained complete dismissal in a case involving alleged violations of consumer protection laws by misuse of aggregated real estate appraisal and insurance data.°
- Obtained settlements in a series of business-to-business litigation matter involving alleged discrepancies in reported results for targeted advertising services.°
- Obtained a settlement for the FTC for $40 million following an investigation of false advertising practices by a wireless-phone service provider.°
- Represented the FTC in a first-of-its-kind investigation and prosecution of a payment processor for assisting and facilitating violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule that resulted in a settlement with the FTC for over $3.4 million.°
- Represented numerous amici curiae, including the Georgia attorney general, other state attorneys general, the Washington Legal Foundation, and former secretaries of the U.S. Department of the Interior, in various petition-stage and merit-stage briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.
°The above representations were handled by Mr. Butler prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
- Counsel for Legal Policy & Deputy Solicitor General, Georgia Attorney General’s Office, 2015-2017
- Attorney, Federal Trade Commission, 2013-2015
- IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US)
- IAPP Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM)
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, FinTech Practice, 2023-2025
- Listed, Georgia Trend Magazine, "Legal Elite," 2024
- Member, International Association of Privacy Professionals
- Member, Publications Advisory Board, 2022-Present
- Member, Stanford Alumni Club of Atlanta
- Member, University of Chicago Alumni Club of Atlanta
- Member, International Association of Privacy Professionals
- Member, Federal Bar Association
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Atlanta Bar Association
Credentials
- J.D., Stanford Law School
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B.A., University of Chicago
- Phi Beta Kappa
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2007-2008
- California
- Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States
News, Insights & Events
Tim regularly provides ongoing commentary and analysis on developments in the state and federal regulatory landscape with a focus on FTC and privacy law developments. He is a contributor to the Data Privacy Dish Blog 
and the Financial Services Observer Blog