Data Breach

Data breaches—and data breach lawsuits—are a regular aspect of the digital age. As our lives move increasingly online, the size of our digital footprint grows, and this creates more opportunities for cybercriminals to obtain our personal information. Americans are now more worried about being the victim of cybercrimes, like the hacking of personal data and identity theft, than they are traditional crimes.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 74% of Americans say they fear computer hackers will access their personal, credit card, or financial information, and 72% worry about identity theft. These fears are not unfounded. In their latest 2023 Cyber Crime Statistics reporting, AAG revealed 53.35 million US citizens were affected by cyber crime in the first half of 2022 alone.

But it’s not necessarily hackers and identity thieves that Americans fear the most. Consumers become victims when companies sell, misuse, or fail to properly protect the personal private information of consumers.

Data Breaches

Cybersecurity is not the responsibility of companies alone. Each internet user is responsible in large part for their personal online security. But a data breach that targets an organization is different. Data breaches occur when cyber criminals penetrate a company’s cybersecurity measures, exposing confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person. When a data breach happens, it’s usually because a company lacked sufficient security, or somebody at the company breached security protocols.

Like other types of cybercrimes, data breaches are on the rise. During the first quarter of 2023, more than six million data records were exposed worldwide through data breaches.

Not only are data breaches becoming more prevalent, but more complex, pervasive, and damaging. They’re also getting harder to detect. It’s typical for a company that suffers a data breach to not become aware of the breach for many months. In fact, according to IBM, the average time to identify and contain a data breach is 280 days.

Milberg’s Data Breach Practice Group

Milberg’s Data Breach Practice Group attorneys are among the most respected in the United States, with extensive experience serving as leadership in numerous privacy class actions involving some of the largest data breaches in the country.

Our Data Breach Practice Group attorneys litigate class action lawsuits alleging massive data breaches and other violations of consumers’ personal and data privacy. Milberg attorneys have spearheaded many highly technical cases, successfully advanced novel legal theories to protect consumers from ever-evolving cyber security and data privacy threats, and recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for data breach victims.

Notable Cases & Recent Recoveries

• Heath v. Insurance Technologies Corp., No. 21-cv-01444 (N.D. Tex.) – Mr. Gary Klinger was one of the co-lead counsel in a case resulting in an $11 million settlement for a major data breach involving more than 4 million consumers
• In re: Herff Jones Data Breach Litigation, Master File No. 1:21-cv-1329-TWP- DLP (S.D. Ind.) – Mr. Gary Klinger was appointed co-lead counsel in a data breach case involving over 1 million persons, which resulted in a $4.35 million settlement
• Carrera Aguallo v. Kemper Corp. – Served as lead counsel in a data breach class action involving 6 million consumers – Settlement valued at $17 million
• In Re: CaptureRx Data Breach Litigation, No. 5:21-cv-00523-OLG (W.D. Tex.) – Mr. Gary Klinger was appointed co-lead counsel in a data breach case involving over 2.4 million class members, resulting in a $4.75 million settlement
• In re Blackbaud, Inc. Consumer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL 2972, Case No. 3:20-mn-02972 (D.S.C. 2020) – Ms. Harper Segui was appointed co-lead counsel in data breach involving 13,000 non-profit entities and millions of class members
• Baldwin et al. v. National Western life Insurance Company, Case No. 2:21-cv-04066 (W.D. Mo.) – Mr. David Lietz was appointed co-class counsel in a data breach case involving over 800,000 persons, resulting in a $3.9 million settlement
• Webb v. Injured Workers Pharmacy, LLC – Milberg obtained an important victory at the First Circuit reversing the trial court’s dismissal of a data breach class action on grounds of standing – The first decision from the First Circuit to address these issues of first impression
• In re: Equifax, Inc. Customer Data Breach Litigation – Served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee; Equifax agreed to pay up to $700 million to consumer and states to settle this data breach class action— The largest ever settlement for a data breach
• In re: Yahoo Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation – Appointed as one of five members of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in a data breach lawsuit against Yahoo – The class action settlement created a $117.5 million fund to pay for credit monitoring services, identity protection, and out-of-pocket losses
• In re: Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Litigation – Served as plaintiffs’ counsel in a data breach class action lawsuit against Anthem for exposing the personal information of 79 million consumers – The settlement created a $115 million cash fund, delivered more than $500 million in value to the class, and required extensive injunctive relief to prevent a future breach