Businesses continue to face challenges involving privacy and data security, including increasing numbers of regulatory investigations and class action lawsuits involving privacy and data breaches.
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Businesses continue to face challenges involving privacy and data security, including increasing numbers of regulatory investigations and class action lawsuits involving privacy and data breaches.
Perkins Coie's Privacy & Security practice litigates cutting-edge legal issues for some of the world's leading technology companies. Our clients trust us with their sensitive and bet-the-company disputes, whether they are facing issues related to data collection, use, security, or disclosure or claims involving constitutional privacy, tort invasion of privacy, statutes with private rights of action, or consumer protection. We have built practice depth and a track record of success for clients. In addition to developing novel defenses and outlitigating our adversaries, we regularly counsel clients on designing their products to mitigate risk in this area.
We also have specific experience coordinating the defense of both regulatory and class action litigation stemming from the same occurrence, which requires careful navigation of different timelines and different discovery requirements.
In recent years, we have emerged as a go-to firm for biometrics litigation. We handled some of the first class actions brought under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), and since then, we have litigated dozens of these cases, achieving many extraordinary outcomes for our clients. Our focus in litigation is on achieving our clients’ business and strategic needs as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Perkins Coie's Privacy & Security practice litigates cutting-edge legal issues for some of the world's leading technology companies. Our clients trust us with their sensitive and bet-the-company disputes, whether they are facing issues related to data collection, use, security, or disclosure or claims involving constitutional privacy, tort invasion of privacy, statutes with private rights of action, or consumer protection. We have built practice depth and a track record of success for clients. In addition to developing novel defenses and outlitigating our adversaries, we regularly counsel clients on designing their products to mitigate risk in this area.
We also have specific experience coordinating the defense of both regulatory and class action litigation stemming from the same occurrence, which requires careful navigation of different timelines and different discovery requirements.
In recent years, we have emerged as a go-to firm for biometrics litigation. We handled some of the first class actions brought under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), and since then, we have litigated dozens of these cases, achieving many extraordinary outcomes for our clients. Our focus in litigation is on achieving our clients’ business and strategic needs as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Privacy Class Actions
Our industry-leading privacy class action defense experience covers the spectrum of claims—from cases asserting violations of specific federal and state privacy laws—like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the SCA, Wiretap Act, TCPA, and BIPA—to cases asserting more general claims, such as constitutional, tort, and consumer protection claims, that involve consumers’ personal data.
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Plaintiffs often bring these cases on behalf of putative classes that number in the thousands or even millions and they often involve staggering financial exposure as well as business interruption resulting from threatened injunctive relief.
Our Privacy Class Action Defense practice is grounded by the subject matter knowledge of our nationally recognized Privacy & Security practice, with more than 70 attorneys focused exclusively on litigating and advising clients in privacy matters. Where possible and consistent with our clients’ business goals, we aim for a swift and efficient defense, but where that is not desired or achievable, we have the breadth and depth of experience necessary to litigate privacy class actions from beginning to end. We have successfully obtained summary judgment dismissal of claims, defeated class certification, negotiated favorable individual and class settlements, and obtained court approval of class settlements even where class members object to settlement terms as too favorable to the defendant.
Because we also recognize that the best defense is to avoid being sued in the first place, our litigators also help counsel companies on steps they can take to mitigate litigation risk. Our attorneys have also counseled clients in the artificial intelligence, augmented reality (AR), blockchain, machine learning (ML) and robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), internet and e-commerce, communications, retail, fintech, and mobile applications spaces.
Biometrics
Several states have enacted laws addressing biometric technologies and data, and many other jurisdictions are considering such laws. Illinois’ BIPA, in particular, regulates fingerprints, voiceprints, “scans” of “face geometry,” and more, and has prompted a surge of putative class actions in recent years.
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Because BIPA provides for the recovery of at least $1,000 “per violation” along with injunctive relief, claims by large putative classes can pose an existential threat to almost any defendant.
Perkins Coie has successfully defended companies, from startups to the world’s leading technology companies, against a multitude of BIPA lawsuits. We are one of the few firms in the country with extensive experience defending cases involving facial recognition or alleged “face scans” and voiceprints. We have also handled many of the more common “fingerprint” cases. In addition, we have represented companies across a broad array of industry sectors, including companies that are consumer-facing and companies that offer business-to-business solutions. Our dedicated team has invested thousands of hours in BIPA defense work, and has researched, analyzed, and tested promising defenses in BIPA cases.
TCPA Defense
Perkins Coie counsels companies on avoiding lawsuits under the TCPA and similar state statutes, defends them when facing claims brought under these laws, and provides representation before the FCC in rulemaking and enforcement proceedings.
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Any company that places calls or sends text messages to customers does so against the backdrop of an extremely aggressive plaintiffs’ class action bar eager to bring claims under the TCPA and similar state statutes.
With a team bolstered by former FCC, in-house, and industry advertising group attorneys, and a national class action defense practice, we counsel clients regarding all aspects of TCPA compliance. This includes compliance with TCPA amendments regarding prior express written consent and novel technologies, such as group texting, refer-a-friend features, lead generation and the interplay between TCPA and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), among other issues. We also regularly represent a wide variety of organizations in TCPA lawsuits and regulatory proceedings.
Ranked Globally in Privacy & Data Security: Litigation Law USA by Chambers Global 2023-2024
