The Privacy Class Action Review - 2023 - Report - Page 4
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
Privacy class action litigation ranks near the top of the list of issues that keep corporate
counsel up at night.
The stakes in these cases are significant by any measure.
The price tags attached to settlements of privacy class action lawsuits filed under the
Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, 740 ILCS 14/15 (“BIPA”) over the past decade
are nearing the $1 billion threshold, and the first BIPA jury trial resulted in a verdict for
roughly a quarter of that amount.
In February 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court issued two consequential rulings for BIPA
defendants.
In the first, the Supreme Court set a five-year statute of limitations for BIPA claims and,
in the second, it interpreted the BIPA to allow a claim to accrue with each scan or
transmission of biometric information. Both decisions are highly favorable to plaintiffs.
These rulings follow other plaintiff-friendly decisions from the Illinois Supreme Court,
which negated preemption arguments under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act and
jettisoned any requirement of actual harm. Together, they create a mosaic of decisions
that make the defense of BIPA class actions a challenge for corporations.
The Illinois statute is a bellwether of sorts for class action litigation in other states.
California, Colorado, and Texas, among other jurisdictions, recently have passed
privacy statutes, and litigation over these laws and breach of privacy increased at a
precipitous rate in 2022.
We expect 2023 will see even more privacy class actions filed throughout the country.
The stakes will continue to rise, and the plaintiffs’ class action bar will push the legal
envelope in their aggressive pursuit of damages under privacy laws.
The Duane Morris Privacy Class Action Review – 2023 is an essential desktop
reference for corporate counsel and business decision-makers to identify privacy risks,
implement strategies to mitigate those risks, and best understand the significant
monetary exposure for organizations that fail to comply with evolving legal
requirements.
The Review examines the key court rulings that have shaped this high-stakes
landscape and provides insight into how businesses can navigate privacy issues
through a minefield of adverse rulings.
Defense of class actions is a hallmark of the litigation practice at Duane Morris.
We hope this book – manifesting the collective expertise of our class action defense
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© Duane Morris LLP 2023
Duane Morris Privacy Class Action Review – 2023
