Carrie L. O’Brien

Carrie concentrates her practice on education law and employment law. She represents schools, school districts, and other educational organizations in all types of legal matters, including data privacy, finance issues, compliance reviews, intergovernmental agreements, Public Records Requests, Open Meeting Law compliance, and civil rights matters. She advises both public entities and private sector clients on various employment issues and challenges, including personnel issues and employment agreements.

Carrie has substantial experience in the education law area. Prior to joining Gust Rosenfeld, she was the Chief Privacy Officer and Director of Legal Services for the Arizona Department of Education from 2012 to 2016. Carrie was an Assistant Attorney General at the Arizona Office of the Attorney General for six years where she represented the Arizona Department of Education.

While at the Arizona Department of Education, Carrie overhauled the handling of confidential student and teacher data and developed data protection agreements with partner agencies. She is a frequent speaker on topics related to data privacy and public records in schools.