Statutory Damages and Enforcement Fuel Growth in Privacy, Consumer Class Actions (Los Angeles Daily Journal)

In their recent Los Angeles Daily Journal article, Goodwin partners John A. Vogt and Ryan D. Ball and associate Matthew T. Billeci explain that class action litigation in the United States has transformed significantly, with companies across virtually every industry facing heightened exposure to aggregate claims. This expansion stems from the proliferation of statutory damages provisions, increasingly active regulatory enforcement, and novel legal theories rooted in evolving consumer expectations and technological change. For businesses and their counsel, understanding these trends is essential to effective risk management. Privacy litigation stands at the forefront. The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) has become the paradigm of statutory exposure, providing liquidated damages of $1,000 per negligent violation and $5,000 per intentional or reckless violation, without requiring proof of actual harm. Courts have certified classes involving millions of individuals, yielding settlements in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Beyond BIPA, the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act have created private rights of action for data breaches, while the Video Privacy Protection Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act continue generating substantial class litigation. The common thread is statutory damages that, when multiplied across a putative class, can transform minor technical violations into existential liability.

Read the full analysis: “Statutory Damages and Enforcement Fuel Growth in Privacy, Consumer Class Actions” (Los Angeles Daily Journal)