Schuyler Ufkes
Partner Chicago
sufkes@edelson.com (312) 819-2104
I received my B.S. in consumer economics and finance with High Honors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and received my J.D. magna cum laude, and Order of the Coif, from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. I handle consumer and privacy-related class actions.
Favorite Game
Fetch (with my dog)
Currently Listening To
Phoenix
Cups of Coffee
1.5
How I Get Around
Motorcycle
Curriculum Vitae
SCHUYLER UFKES is a Partner at Edelson PC where his practice focuses on consumer and privacy-related class actions.
Schuyler is currently litigating over a dozen putative class actions on behalf of employees and consumers under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”), as well as several geolocation privacy cases. He has been appointed to serve as class counsel in dozens of class settlements, ranging from BIPA cases to those involving Michigan’s Preservation of Personal Privacy Act (“PPPA”). Schuyler has recovered more than $100 million for consumers in compensation for BIPA violations alone.
During law school, Schuyler was an Executive Articles Editor for the Chicago-Kent Law Review and was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society.
- Sosa v. Onfido, Inc., 20-cv-04247 (N.D. Ill.): Represented hundreds of thousands of consumers in BIPA case against biometric identification software company. Led settlement negotiations and settled the case for $28.5 million and was appointed class counsel.
- Umland v. Alden Management Services, Inc., 17-CH-13046 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.): Obtained adversarial class certification of class consisting of thousands of nursing home employees.
- Crumpton v. Haemonetics Corporation, 21-cv-01402 (N.D. Ill.): Defeated Rule 12(b)(2) motion for lack of personal jurisdiction after extensive jurisdictional discovery, and obtained one of the most favorable and oft-cited personal jurisdiction rulings for BIPA plaintiffs. Later settled the case for $8.7 million.
- Lukis v. Whitepages, Inc., 19-cv-4871 (N.D. Ill.): Lead associate in case against the operator of a “people search” website alleging violations of the Illinois Right of Publicity Act and the Ohio Right of Publicity Act. Secured the first-ever class action settlement under either the IRPA or ORPA for $4 million total.
- Villagomez v. iSolved HCM, LLC, 19-CH-12932 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.): Led litigation and settlement discussions in BIPA case against biometric timeclock vendor, and settled the case for nearly $2.5 million for 8,000 class members, making it the highest monetary relief per class member in a BIPA case against a technology vendor. Obtained 45.2% claims rate.
- Owens v. Wendy’s International, LLC, 18-CH-11423 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.): Led litigation and settlement discussions in BIPA case, and settled the case for $18.2 million for 19,891 class members, making it the highest monetary relief per class member in a BIPA case with over 10,000 class members.
- Gutierrez v. Senior Lifestyle Corporation, 2017-CH-11314 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.): Led litigation and settlement efforts in BIPA case, and settled the case for over $3.3 million for 2,679 class members, making it the highest monetary relief per class member in a BIPA case with over 2,000 class members.
- Higgins v. TV Guide Magazine, LLC, 2:15-cv-13769 (E.D. Mich.). Secured $1.7 million settlement fund for a class of magazine subscribers resolving claims under Michigan’s Preservation of Personal Privacy Act and appointed class counsel.
- Biscuit Cafe Inc. et al v. Society Insurance, Inc., 1:20-cv-02514 (N.D. Ill.). Represented a putative class of Illinois businesses against their insurer claiming it wrongfully denied their claims for business income and extra expense coverage resulting from losses sustained due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Recognized as a Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar by The National Law Journal, 2024
- Five CALI awards for receiving the highest grade in Legal Writing II, Legal Writing III, Pretrial Litigation, Supreme Court Review, and Professional Responsibility while at the Chicago-Kent College of Law
- Hon. Daniel T. Gillespie & Schuyler R. Ufkes, They can comment, but they cannot hide—The Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling on Rule 224 in Hadley v. Doe, Illinois State Bar Foundation (August 2015)
- Supreme Court of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- United States District Court for the District of Colorado
- Co-chair of the Consumer Privacy Committee of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA)