Data Breach Suits Find Easier Path With DC Circuit Ruling

Carlton Fields Shareholder Kristin Shepard was quoted in the Law360 article, “Data Breach Suits Find Easier Path With DC Circ. Ruling.” The D.C. Circuit recently revived a data breach case involving CareFirst, finding risk of future harm was enough to meet the high court’s Spokeo decision.

In the article Shepard “noted that while the suit was filed in D.C., the putative class included policyholders from Maryland and Virginia, states that fall within the Fourth Circuit — which in the February VA hospital decision found the threat of harm insufficient to establish standing.”

Because the issue of standing is very divided right now, whether your case survives the first hurdle is likely going to depend on what circuit it's in. So that's likely to incentivize the plaintiffs bar to try to file nationwide breaches in favorable jurisdictions for them, and defendants that are facing breach lawsuits in a number of different jurisdictions to try to consolidate them in a place where the law is favorable to them.

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