Curriculum Vitae

THEO BENJAMIN is an Associate at Edelson PC where his practice focuses on consumer fraud, privacy, mass tort litigation, and government enforcement actions, including matters on behalf of Attorneys General and municipalities. Since joining the firm, Theo has actively litigated a variety of plaintiff’s actions to recover losses arising out of the nationwide opioid epidemic and insurance class actions on behalf of businesses nationwide alleging wrongful denial for business interruption coverage from losses sustained as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Theo is currently litigating several government enforcement actions on behalf of the District of Columbia, including Facebook for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Juul Lab’s for its e-cigarette marketing practices. Theo likewise serves as one of the lead associates responsible for Edelson’s discovery efforts in the Facebook and Juul litigation, where he is responsible for leveraging case assessment techniques including the identification, review, and collection of complex electronic discovery and building trial outlines to discern the specific needs of a case.

 

Theo also protects the rights of consumers under state laws like the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and has worked to represent former NCAA football athletes suffering from the harmful effects of concussions.

 

Theo received his J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law where he served as Comment Editor for Northwestern’s Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology and was active in the Bluhm Legal Clinic’s Civil Rights Litigation Clinic. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, where he graduated with general and departmental honors.

 

Representative cases:

• In re: Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Assoc’n Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litig. – single Sport/ Single School (Football), MDL No. 2492, 1:16-cv-08727 (N.D. Ill). Assisted in filing, consolidating, and engaging in discovery for class action lawsuits on behalf of former NCAA football players exposed to repeated concussive and sub-concussive brain injuries.
• Representing a broad range of stakeholders in litigation and bankruptcy filings against opioid companies including governments, municipal risk pools, labor unions, and health and welfare funds. See, e.g. Int’l Union of Operating Eng’rs, Local 150, et al. v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., No. 2019-CH-01548 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill.); City of Harvey, et al. v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., No. 2018-CH-09020 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill.); Village of Melrose Park, et al. v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., No. 2018-CH-06601 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill.); Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency, et al. v. Purdue Pharma L.P., et al., No. 2018-CH-12828 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill.).
• Representing a variety of businesses nationwide at both the state and federal level alleging wrongful denial of claims for business interruption and insurance coverage resulting from losses sustained due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See, e.g., Geneva Foreign & Sports, Inc. v. Erie Insurance, No. 1:20-cv-0093 (W.D PA); Sea land Air Travel, Inc. v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company, No. 20-005872-CB (Cir. Ct. Wayne Cty.); Biscuit Cafe, Inc. et al. v. Society Insurance, No. 1:20-cv-02514 (N.D. Ill).
• Suber v. ABC Aerolineas, S.A. de C.V. Inc., d/b/a Interjet, No. 2019-CH-03111 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.). Counsel in a breach of contract action against an International airline.
• Beaton v. SpeedyPC Software, No. 1:13-cv-08389 (N.D. Ill.). Counsel in a certified class action alleging deceptive design and sale of computer software.
• Counsel in a variety of cases alleging BIPA violations. See Mazurkiewicz v. Mid City Nissan, Inc., 2018-CH-09798 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.); Mims v. Freedman Seating Co., No. 2018-CH-09806 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.); Gutierrez et al v. Senior Lifestyle et al., 2017-CH-11314 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty.).
• District of Columbia v. Facebook, Inc., 2018 CA 008715 B (D.C. Super. Ct.).
• District of Columbia v. JUUL Labs, Inc., 2019 CA 07795 B (D.C. Super. Ct.).
• Rottner v. Palm Beach Tan, Inc. et al., 2015-CH-16695 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill.).

 

Admissions:

• State of Illinois
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

 

Miscellaneous:

In law school, Theo founded Northwestern’s first chapter of the International Refugee Assistance Project and helped provide legal aid, representation, and policy research to refugees and asylum seekers undergoing the U.S. resettlement process. Theo also served as a Comment Editor for Northwestern’s Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology and worked closely on two senior research projects with Professor Sheila Bedi, the Director of the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic at Northwestern. During law school, Theo also worked extensively with the Bluhm legal clinic –– in particular, with the MacArthur Justice Center, a public interest firm focused on challenging civil rights injustices.

 

Prior to law school, Theo worked as the Director of Academic support at Creative Academics, a tutoring company specializing in providing academic support services to students with learning disabilities. In tandem with this, Theo also worked as a youth tutor at a Jewish foster care and adoption agency in Los Angeles.

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