J. Eli Wade-Scott

• Successfully represented ACLU and other public interest organizations in a lawsuit against Clearview AI, resulting in a consent decree barring Clearview from offering its AI-powered facial recognition products to the private market nationwide, and banning it entirely from Illinois for five years. American Civil Liberties Union v. Clearview AI, Inc., No. 20 CH 4353 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.). The settlement has been called a “milestone for civil rights.
• Lead counsel in more than a dozen of the first cases filed under the Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), securing nearly $150 million in settlements to Illinois employees and consumers under the law. Appointed class counsel in first-ever case against a biometric timeclock vendor, and secured the largest-ever settlement against a vendor. See Kusinski v. ADP LLC, No. 2017-CH-12364 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.). In BIPA actions brought against employers, negotiated the highest cash relief per-person ever obtained in privacy cases—exceeding $1,000 per person—and distributed using novel method of direct checks to the class. E.g., Lloyd v. Xanitos, Inc., 2018 CH 15351 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.); Barnes v. Aryzta LLC, 2017 CH 11312 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.), Cornejo v. Amcor LLC, 18-cv-7018 (N.D. Ill.); Fluker v. Glanbia Performance Nutrition LLC, 2017 CH 12993 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.).
• Litigated numerous first-of-their-kind cases under state right of publicity statutes and secured first settlements under these statutes—more $50 million to date, with many class members receiving nearly a thousand dollars in cash relief. E.g., Ramos v. ZoomInfo Technologies, LLC, No. 1:21-cv-02032 (N.D. Ill.); Fischer v. Instant Checkmate, No. 19-cv-4892 (N.D. Ill.); Butler v. Whitepages, Inc., 19-cv-04871 (N.D. Ill.) (first such case).
• Brought suit on behalf of California consumers against a self-proclaimed “robot lawyer” alleging the company fraudulently claimed to be using AI and provided unauthorized legal services. Company ceased use of “robot lawyer” language and stopped offering legal services. Faridian v. DoNotPay, Inc., 23-cv-01692 (N.D. Cal.).
• Successfully represented of families against ADT over massive loophole in its flagship “smart home” security system that allowed an employee to surreptitiously spy on families—including children—in their most intimate moments at home for more than seven years without detection.
• Successfully represented the State of New Mexico in action against Google for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. State of New Mexico, ex rel. Hector Balderas, Attorney General for the State of New Mexico v. Google LLC, 20-cv-00143 (D.N.M.).
• Representing District of Columbia in action seeking $1.7 billion in civil penalties against Facebook arising from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Appointed Special Assistant State’s Attorney in similar case brought on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois. In the latter action, argued successful motion to remand posing from MDL for State’s Attorney, on motion posing novel questions of Article III jurisdiction. In re Facebook, Inc., Consumer Privacy User Profile Litig., No. 18-cv-06486, 2019 WL 348893 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2019).
• Secured temporary restraining order and civil contempt against hospital purchasers who sought closure of Westlake Hospital—a community hospital serving Melrose Park, Illinois—in what has been called “one of the most complicated hospital closure disputes in the state’s history.” Village of Melrose Park v. Pipeline Health Sys. LLC, et al., No. 19-CH-03041 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill.). Successfully resolved the case on behalf of the Village of Melrose Park and employees of the hospital.
• Successfully represented the City of Chicago and Cook County State’s Attorney against Uber Technologies for 2014 and 2016 data breaches. City of Chicago and People of the State of Illinois, ex rel. Kimberly M. Foxx, State’s Attorney of Cook County, Illinois v. Uber Technologies, Inc., No. 17-CH-15594 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty, Ill.).

• Recognized as a Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar by The National Law Journal, 2022-2023.
• Covered in the “They’ve Got Next” series, profiling Five Fresh Faces to Know in Privacy and Cybersecurity.
• Recognized as an Illinois Rising Star by Super Lawyers, 2019-2022
• Awarded an Equal Justice America Fellowship in 2012 and Vorenberg Equal Justice Summer Fellowship in 2013 to fund public interest positions.
• Awarded a Skadden Fellowship by the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, 2014.

• Panelist, “The Day After Tomorrow: What’s Next for U.S. Consumer Privacy?”,  IAPP Privacy. Security. Risk (October 13, 2022).
• Panelist, “Big Data Consumer Class Actions: A Problem in Need of a Solution or a Solution in Need of a Problem?“, ABA Regional Symposium on Class Actions and Mass Torts (June 17, 2022).
• Presenter, “The Remote Courtroom in the Time of COVID”, Illinois State Bar Association & Illinois Judges’ Association (December 11, 2020).
• Presenter, “Standing, Statutory Violations, and “Intangible Harm””: The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act and Beyond, Celesq (May 5, 2019).
• Guest Lecturer in the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law’s Clinic Practice: Civil Litigation Course, 2015 and 2016.

Before joining Edelson PC, Eli served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rebecca Pallmeyer of the Northern District of Illinois. Eli has also worked as a Skadden Fellow at Legal Aid Chicago, Cook County’s federally-funded legal aid provider. There, Eli represented low-income tenants in affirmative litigation against their landlords to remedy dangerous housing conditions.

Eli received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an Executive Editor on the Harvard Law and Policy Review and a research assistant to Professor Vicki C. Jackson.