Data Breach Litigation Law Firm
Although you may not think about it at the time, you are making a conscious decision to trust a company when you give them access to your personal information. When they fail to take adequate steps to protect that data, it can cause you significant harm.
The data breach litigation lawyers at Federman & Sherwood can file an individual or class action lawsuit on your behalf when your personal information has been compromised. We take a tough and aggressive approach to litigating on behalf of our clients, obtaining many successful outcomes over our decades of experience. Call us today to learn how our team can work for you.
Clients praise our responsiveness and willingness to go the extra mile for them.
Client Bre M. writes:
“They are an extremely professional law firm. They are kind to work with, respond to emails and return phone calls! They represented me well! I am pleased with all that they have done for me. I highly recommend!”
Data Breaches Are a Growing Problem in the United States
More sophisticated malign actors, along with less vigilant companies, have created an environment in which the number of data breaches has skyrocketed. These days, companies have a trove of your personal data. If and when it is compromised, you can suffer financial losses and immense hassle. When your personal data has been exposed, you may be able to take legal action to recover your damages from the company that was supposed to protect it.
All it may take for hackers to infiltrate a system is one stolen password from an unsuspecting and careless employee. A worker could simply misplace a laptop that gives a hacker access to crucial information. In turn, the hacker could get access to key personally identifiable information, such as your:
- Account passwords
- Date of birth
- Credit card numbers
- Bank account numbers
- Social Security Number
- Address
- Email address
- Health Information
There were over 3,000 data breaches in the United States in 2023. While that number in itself may not seem significant, know that there were 447 breaches just over a decade ago. The average data breach results in nearly $10 million in losses, and some can cause far greater damage. For example, Equifax paid more than $1 billion in penalties after one of the largest data breaches in history.
Lawsuits for Data Breaches
You can read our ongoing active data breach investigations to see the full scope of the issue – data breaches have unfortunately become common in the US. However, your personal data does not always have to be stolen for you to seek financial compensation for a data breach. Increasingly, courts are allowing plaintiffs to file lawsuits for the mere fact that their data was exposed, and they have potential harm, even if they have not suffered actual losses due to fraud. Although not every jurisdiction allows this, courts are increasingly moving in this direction.
Certainly, you can file a lawsuit if you suffered financial losses from the data breach. You may file a lawsuit as an individual, or you may file or join a class action lawsuit for a data breach. Since many data breaches affect a large group of individuals in the same way, these cases are often filed as class action lawsuits. In a class action class, many individuals join together in a single lawsuit, seeking compensation for the breach (although there is no legal requirement for you to opt into the class).
Federman & Sherwood Can Help With Data Breach Claims – Call us at 800-237-1277
Damages in Data Breach Lawsuits
If you prevail in a data breach lawsuit, you may be paid for both your actual financial losses and some non-economic damages. Your compensation could include:
- Any unauthorized charges to your credit card
- Money that was taken out of your bank account
- Time that you spent dealing with the data breach
- Emotional distress from your data being taken
- Costs for damage to your credit
- Costs of credit monitoring service
If you filed and won an individual lawsuit, you would be paid directly in a settlement or award. If you are a part of a class action lawsuit, you would apply for your share of a settlement fund or jury award.
Defenses to a Data Breach Lawsuit
You need a data breach lawyer to represent you in a lawsuit to present the strongest possible case. The mere fact that a data breach happened may not be enough to automatically qualify you for financial compensation. The company may use a number of defenses to your lawsuit, including:
- They had an adequate information system to defend against any data breach
- They detected the breach early and took action
- Your proposed class for the lawsuit does not meet the requirements
- The company had policies and procedures to reduce the risk
Then, a defendant may try to either aggressively negotiate a low settlement or dispute the damages that you have suffered. You need an experienced data breach lawyer who can help overcome these defenses and tactics to not only help you get money but also the highest possible amount of financial recovery.
Contact a Data Breach Litigation Attorney Today
If your personal data was compromised when a company had possession of it, contact the data breach litigation law firm of Federman & Sherwood to hold them accountable. You can call us today at 405-235-1560 or 800-237-1277 to speak with a data breach litigation lawyer during a free initial case review.