Theo Benjamin
Associate Chicago
tbenjamin@edelson.com (312) 572-7212
I received my J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School and received my B.A. in History from the University of Chicago, with general and departmental honors. I’m member of the Public Client and Government Affairs teams and primarily handle complex consumer protection, privacy, and environmental litigation.
Theme Song
Purple Rain - Prince
Favorite Game
Trivial Pursuit
Cups of Coffee
2
How I Get Around
Train
Curriculum Vitae
THEO BENJAMIN is an Associate at Edelson PC where his work focuses on consumer protection, privacy, complex environmental cases, and bankruptcy. He is a member of the firm’s Public Client and Government Affairs teams. Since joining the firm, Theo has actively litigated a variety of complex actions on behalf of state attorneys general, including over youth vaping, e-cigarettes, big-tech data breaches, misuses of consumer data, and environmental actions over water and land contamination and natural resources damages from toxic chemicals. These efforts have led to multi-million-dollar settlements for government clients, including a $462 million multistate settlement against JUUL Labs, the largest litigated settlement the District of Columbia has ever secured under the Consumer Protection and Procedures Act (“CPPA”).
Theo is currently litigating several government consumer protection and environmental actions against tech-industry giants and chemical companies, including Meta Platforms, Inc. and Velsicol Chemical LLC. He also represents dozens of municipalities in litigation against manufacturers and distributors of opioids, which has helped paved the way for landmark national opioid settlements with Johnson & Johnson, Teva, Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen.
Aside from government affairs, Theo has represented clients in complex class action litigation, including on behalf of consumers under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) and the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”).
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 in History and Germanic Studies from the University of Chicago, where he graduated with general and departmental honors.
- Represented the District of Columbia as a lead litigating state resulting in a $462 million multistate settlement, helping secure $15.2 million for the District in a consumer protection case against JUUL Labs for unfair practices that targeted youth and misled District consumers. District of Columbia v. JUUL Labs, Inc., 2019 CA 07795 B (D.C. Super. Ct.).
- Obtained a $9.5 million settlement for the District of Columbia in a consumer protection case concerning Google alleged tracking of users’ location data without their knowledge and consent and using “dark patterns” to undermine users’ choices. District of Columbia v. Google LLC, 2022-CA-000330-B (D.C. Super. Ct.).
- Representing the District of Columbia against Facebook for allegedly misusing private data and failure to notify consumers about the Cambridge Analytica data breach. District of Columbia v. Facebook, Inc., 2018 CA 008715 B (D.C. Super. Ct.).
- Representing the District of Columbia against Velsicol Chemical for natural resource damage and contamination. District of Columbia v. Velsicol Chemical LLC, 2022 CA 004711 B (D.C. Super Ct.).
- Representing Attorneys General in their investigations into contamination and exposure resulting from PFAS, PCBs, and Chlordane.
- Representing a broad range of stakeholders in litigation and bankruptcy against opioid distributors and manufacturers that includes dozens of municipalities, 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.).
- Represented 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).
- 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).
- Class Counsel in a variety of BIPA-related class actions. See, e.g., Rottner v. Palm Beach Tan, Inc. et al., 2015-CH-16695 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty., Ill.). 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.).
- Beaton v. SpeedyPC Software, No. 1:13-cv-08389 (N.D. Ill.). Class Counsel in a certified class action alleging deceptive design and sale of computer software.
- State of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Swedish
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.