Matthew C. Wolfe

Representative Matters

Matt has extensive experience in complex, multi-party matters. He currently represents the following:

• Parties in several high-profile data-security incidents impacting numerous Fortune 500 companies. Matt’s work on these matters includes defending putative class actions brought by individual plaintiffs, pursuing and defending indemnification and other claims relating to the data incidents and related outages, and advising on data-security and business-risk issues. 
• Several defendants facing mass-arbitration demands relating to consumer fraud and data privacy issues. 
• Numerous BIPA defendants in complex, high-exposure cases involving, among other things, purported face-recognition software, voice-command technology used in automobiles, and biometric templates allegedly stored with a cloud provider without adequate notice and consent. 

Matt’s additional experience includes:

• Representing numerous defendants in cases involving website-tracking technology, including several cases bringing novel claims stretching the boundaries of the Video Privacy Protection Act. Matt also obtained one of the most favorable class-wide settlements to date of a website-tracking case involving pixel technology.
• In BIPA cases, Matt has argued before the Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court and led briefings in more than a dozen BIPA appeals. Matt and his team obtained the groundbreaking defense victory in Mosby v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, in which the Illinois Supreme Court held that BIPA’s health care exclusion applies to certain health care worker data, reversing multiple decisions of lower courts. Matt also has obtained important victories in the trial courts and has extensive experience developing and presenting arguments based on the facts of how biometric technology actually works. On behalf of their clients, Matt and his teams have eliminated well over a billion dollars in potential BIPA liability. 
• Represented a class consisting of approximately 1,500 medical providers and their practices in litigation against a large hospital system for breach of contract and other claims. After certification of the class was affirmed on appeal (which Matt argued), the case was tried as a class action and a jury awarded Matt’s clients $58 million in damages. That verdict was affirmed on appeal, after which the matter settled for $82.7 million, plus significant non-monetary relief. Matt’s experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants gives him unique insights into class action strategy.
• Matt also has litigated and won class actions arising from data incidents such as ransomware attacks. He and his teams have obtained several dismissals with prejudice of data breach class actions in Illinois and other jurisdictions.
• Additionally, Matt has experience in class actions involving false labeling, consumer fraud and other types of claims. 
• He has represented public and private companies in numerous post-closing disputes and arbitrations, including winning a week-long FINRA arbitration concerning the wind-up of an options trading firm, and successfully pursuing professional negligence claims relating to business wind-down issues.
• Additionally, Matt has substantial experience with insurance coverage litigation and advice. He has represented major insurers in litigation and appeals disputing coverage issues for mass tort, intellectual property, construction defect, opioid, product liability and other claims. He has counseled insurers on many high-exposure issues, often under significant time pressure, and advised policyholders on their coverage needs.
• Matt has an active pro bono practice. Early in his career, he served as pro bono counsel to the Chicago nonprofit Housing Choice Partners in two cases alleging racial discrimination in the lease of downtown office space. After Matt’s client defeated multiple motions for summary judgment by the defendants, the cases were resolved. Matt’s pro bono work also has included prison-conditions litigation and work on immigration issues, including obtaining asylum for two unaccompanied minor children from El Salvador.