Brad Shear

Brad Shear is an attorney, adjunct professor, consultant, speaker, and author with extensive experience in Social Media, Advertising, Privacy, Business, Copyright, Trademark, Sports, and Entertainment law. His early professional digital experience began in the late 1990s during the initial tech boom, working for the NFL Players Association where he engaged with internet legal and marketing issues pertinent to professional athletes. Subsequently, he held positions at JPMorgan Chase and an entertainment startup company, further developing his expertise in the evolving digital landscape.

Shear has been instrumental in shaping social media privacy law across the United States. He worked with state and federal lawmakers to draft social media privacy legislation, leading to the enactment of such laws in Maryland, Delaware, Illinois, and California. His efforts extended to collaborating with U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel on U.S. HR 5050—The Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOPA), aiming to protect personal digital privacy rights nationally for employees and students while shielding businesses and schools from certain social media legal liabilities. He is also the founder of Digital Armour, focusing on digital privacy.

His expertise is frequently sought by media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the BBC for expert analysis on digital and social media law and public policy issues. He is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at The George Washington University, a member of Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society’s Online Media Legal Network, and serves on the Board of Advisors for the University of Baltimore’s Center for Sport and the Law. His blog, “Shear on Social Media Law,” syndicated by The American Lawyer and The National Law Journal, focuses on social media law and public policy.