Class Action Horizon Scanning in the UK: Looking to the US Experience

Douglas H. Meal パートナー

Boston

Seasoned trial lawyer Doug Meal defends clients targeted by litigation and government investigations stemming from major privacy and cybersecurity incidents. According to Chambers USA, clients select Doug because "[h]e is the premier expert in this field and knows how to run a breach response process from A to Z”; is “extremely experienced [and] can give immediate advice off the top of his head"; "has been in court through trials and negotiations, all aspects of the litigation, and is highly effective in all of them"; and "is good to work with, personable and very authoritative." This year, clients said, "I would trust him with my life if I ran into a litigation"; "Doug is extremely calm and has a way of presenting and explaining problems which makes you feel empowered to do your job"; and "He has great experience in this field and is a solid rock in litigation." Based on client assessments like these, Chambers USA has named Doug as the first and only “Band 1” litigator in the Privacy and Data Security category, describing him as the “market leader,” being “regarded by market sources as the leading privacy litigator in the USA” and “the dean of the data breach litigation Bar." 

As the lead outside lawyer handling claims and/or regulatory investigations stemming from the data security breaches suffered by Target, Neiman Marcus, The Home Depot, Hilton Worldwide, Landry’s, Arby’s, Shopify, Chegg, Supervalu, Sally Beauty, Sony, Heartland Payment Systems, TJ Maxx, Hannaford Brothers, Aldo, Genesco, and Wyndham Hotels—some of the most highly publicized breaches in recent years—Doug has become the national leader in defending companies that suffer breaches involving consumer information against the ensuing claims and regulatory investigations. Doug’s recent successes include leading the team that prevailed in the closely watched LabMD v. FTC litigation, convincing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to become the first court ever to overturn a cybersecurity enforcement action by the FTC.

Doug has been recognized four times as one of The Cybersecurity Docket’s Incident Response 40—a list of the top 40 incident response lawyers in the United States. He is also a five-time Law360 Privacy MVP.

Marc R. Shapiro パートナー

New York

Marc R. Shapiro is a partner in Orrick’s New York office. He is a member of the Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group as well as the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group.

Marc represents clients in federal and state court at the trial and appellate levels with a particular focus on class actions, multi-district litigation, and mass joinders. Among Marc’s current engagements, he represents Johns Hopkins University and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America in over a dozen class actions arising out of a data breach of the MOVEit file transfer software; University of Washington in a pandemic-related class action seeking refunds of tuition and fees on behalf of students; ZoomInfo Technologies LLC in a data privacy class action alleging unlawful disclosure of personal information under federal and state laws; Goldman Sachs in a pay and promotion gender discrimination class action; NCAA in concussion and injury-related cases throughout the country; Marathon Oil Corporation in nationwide climate change litigation; and multiple foreign defendants in a class action arising out of allegedly defective drywall.

Recently, Marc successfully prevailed at trial before the Delaware Chancery Court and earned Litigator of the Week recognition by Law.com for defeating claims by Netflix star Julia Haart that she owns half the shares of Elite World Group; secured dismissal of a dozen class actions against the University of California and Santa Clara University brought by students seeking refunds of tuition and fees due to COVID-driven transition to remote instruction; and defeated class certification and secured affirmance on appeal by the Ninth Circuit in an employment discrimination class action against Microsoft.

Marc served as a law clerk to Judge Betty B. Fletcher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Prior to joining Orrick, Marc worked as an appellate and post-conviction attorney for the Equal Justice Initiative. In that capacity, he engaged in trial level and appellate representation of clients in both state and federal court, including two cases that were briefed and argued before the United States Supreme Court.