Our Story
Grounded in Purpose. Grounded in People.
Grounded Legal Practice, PLLC is a New York-based boutique law firm and leadership advisory practice delivering transactional legal services, compliance strategy, and leadership development for mission-driven organizations, creatives, entrepreneurs, and individuals. Rooted in data privacy, AI, and cybersecurity law, we tailor practical, forward-thinking strategies that honor both innovation and human impact.
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We help clients build scalable trust-centered systems and move forward with integrity, especially those without internal legal departments or formal leadership support infrastructure. Our work integrates human-centered guidance with deep legal and tech expertise across information privacy, cyber, AI governance, workplace privacy practices, and professional ethics.
Nikki
Founder & Principal
CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM, FIP
How She Stays Human
Beyond this practice, Nikki enjoys creating GIFs and doodle art, attending Comic Con, and rewatching her favorite anime. Her dog, Appa, named after the beloved sky bison from Avatar: The Last Airbender, keeps life playful. A former Division I track athlete who walked onto the team, she brings that same drive, creativity, and resilience into everything she builds.
About
At Grounded Legal Practice, Nikki brings together legal expertise, leadership development insight, deep technical fluency, and a commitment to helping people and organizations move forward with purpose.
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Nikki is a New York-licensed attorney and a Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP), holding advanced certifications through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM). Her multi-disciplinary background spans privacy and cybersecurity law, workplace policy, compliance, and leadership development. She has advised startups, global companies, and mission-driven organizations across B2B and B2C contexts in industries including ad tech, SaaS, education, healthcare, financial services, retail, and government. She has served as in-house privacy counsel at a global ad tech company, practiced as an associate in a cybersecurity and data privacy group at a regional law firm, and led privacy and compliance assessments for 40+ clients as a senior consultant at a consulting firm.
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Before founding Grounded Legal Practice, Nikki's career began at the intersection of psychology and technology, creating human-centered systems for global organizations and supporting leadership development initiatives. She has since designed privacy programs, drafted compliance frameworks, trained cross-functional teams, mentored legal professionals, and built programs that supported thousands of employees across organizations working to strengthen organizational trust, clarify their values, and lead with greater integrity.
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Alongside legal practice, Nikki has long championed equity, intentional leadership, and human-centered systems. She founded a women’s staff affinity group at a major law firm, facilitated emotional intelligence workshops at leadership conferences, and helped launch diversity and inclusion initiatives focused on building more respectful, connected environments.
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Nikki believes legal and leadership strategy only create real impact when it’s clearly communicated, rooted in lived experience, and built to support people, not just processes. This philosophy is what drives Grounded Legal Practice: a modern legal and leadership advisory practice for organizations and professionals who want to build strategically, honoring both innovation and human impact.
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Today, Nikki works with small to mid-sized businesses, mission-driven organizations, legal teams, and individual professionals who are building something real, organizations, movements, careers, with excellence and empathy.
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If you're ready for support that’s strategic, grounded, and human-centered, you're in the right place.