Saikali Discusses Data Breach Class Actions in American Lawyer

Shook, Hardy & Bacon Data Security and Privacy Group Co-Chair Al Saikali discusses the potential impact of a class action suit claiming companies and law firms should be held accountable for inadequate security measures in a December 13 The American Lawyer article, “Facing a Data Breach Suit Without the Data Breach? ‘Scary.’”

The lawsuit claims companies and law firms should be held accountable even if their customers’ data is not breached. However, he points out, “If a court says this is enough to allow a case to proceed, then almost every company in America will be subject to a class action lawsuit, because the nature of information security is it’s impossible to say you have no vulnerabilities.” Skeptical about the suit’s success, Saikali notes, “Assuming a court understands the implications of that, I don’t think they’re going to say a vulnerability is enough for a case.”