Edelson’s class action group has received national recognition for achieving extraordinary relief in groundbreaking cases. The group holds records for the largest jury verdict in a privacy case ($925 million), the largest single-state privacy settlement ($650 million), and the largest Telephone Consumer Protection Act settlement ($76 million).
We are the only firm to have established that online apps can constitute illegal gambling under state law, resulting in more than $651 million in settlements in the last two years. Our class actions brought against the national banks in the wake of the housing collapse restored over $5 billion in home equity credit lines. The group is led by partner J. Eli Wade-Scott.
We have gained a “national reputation as a maverick in [our] commitment to pursuing big-ticket cybersecurity and privacy cases on behalf of consumers.” (Law360, January 2019). We are known “for securing multi-million dollar settlements against tech giants” (Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, September 2013). We have been named by Law360 as a Consumer Protection Group of the Year (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020), a Class Action Group of the Year (2019), and a Plaintiff’s Class Action Powerhouse (2017, 2018, 2019).
Just a few examples of our work include:
- Filed the first of its kind class action against Facebook under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, alleging Facebook collected facial recognition data from its users without authorization. Appointed Class Counsel in securing adversarial certification of class of Illinois Facebook users. Case settled on the eve of trial for a record breaking $650 million. In re Facebook Biometric Privacy Litig., No. 15-cv-03747 (N.D. Cal.). Since then, the firm has gone on to obtain more than $100 million in relief for consumers under BIPA.
- Having secured a watershed Ninth Circuit victory for consumers in Kater v. Churchill Downs Inc., 886 F.3d 784 (9th Cir. 2018), obtained more than $650 million in settlements for against gambling companies for allegedly profiting off illegal internet casinos.
- Appointed co-lead counsel in MDL against the NCAA, its conferences, and member institutions alleging personal injury claims on behalf of college football players resulting from repeated concussive and sub-concussive hits. In re Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n Single School/Single Sport Concussion Litig., No. 16- cv-8727, MDL No. 2492 (N.D. Ill.)
- Lead counsel on behalf of Rohingya refugee community seeking $150 billion against Facebook for fueling genocide in Myanmar by prioritizing hate speech on the platform. Doe v. Meta Platforms, Inc., 2022-cv-00051 (N.D. Cal.).
- Lead counsel in the landmark case affirming the ability of plaintiffs to bring statutory claims for relief in federal court. Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016). The United States Supreme Court rejected the argument that individuals must allege “real world” harm to have standing to sue in federal court; instead the court recognized that “intangible” harms and even the “risk of future harm” can establish “standing.” Commentators have called Spokeo the most significant consumer privacy case in recent years.
- Led class actions against the wireless industry—including cases against AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon and others—that ultimately secured more than $100 million in relief for wireless subscribers after they were fraudulently charged for unauthorized mobile content products and services.