Campbell et al v. Facebook Inc.
Filing
138
MOTION to Certify Class filed by Matthew Campbell, Michael Hurley. Motion Hearing set for 3/16/2016 09:00 AM in Courtroom 3, 3rd Floor, Oakland before Hon. Phyllis J. Hamilton. Responses due by 1/15/2016. Replies due by 2/19/2016. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Michael W. Sobol, # 2 Declaration of Hank Bates, # 3 Declaration of David T. Rudolph, # 4 Declaration of Melissa Gardner, # 5 Proposed Order)(Sobol, Michael) (Filed on 11/13/2015)
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Michael W. Sobol (State Bar No. 194857)
msobol@lchb.com
David T. Rudolph (State Bar No. 233457)
drudolph@lchb.com
Melissa Gardner (State Bar No. 289096)
mgardner@lchb.com
LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP
275 Battery Street, 29th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-3339
Telephone: 415.956.1000
Facsimile: 415.956.1008
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Hank Bates (State Bar No. 167688)
hbates@cbplaw.com
Allen Carney
acarney@cbplaw.com
David Slade
dslade@cbplaw.com
CARNEY BATES & PULLIAM, PLLC
11311 Arcade Drive
Little Rock, AR 72212
Telephone: 501.312.8500
Facsimile: 501.312.8505
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Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Proposed Class
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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OAKLAND DIVISION
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MATTHEW CAMPBELL and MICHAEL
HURLEY, on behalf of themselves and all
others similarly situated,
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Plaintiff,
Case No. C 13-05996 PJH (MEJ)
DECLARATION OF MICHAEL W.
SOBOL IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’
MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
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v.
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FACEBOOK, INC.,
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Date:
Time:
Judge:
Place:
March 16, 2016
9:00 a.m.
Hon. Phyllis J. Hamilton
Courtroom 3, 3rd Floor
Defendant.
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DECLARATION OF MICHAEL W. SOBOL IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
CASE NO. 13-CV-05996-PJH (MEJ)
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I, Michael W. Sobol, declare:
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1.
I am a member in good standing of the California State Bar and a partner in the
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law firm of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP (“LCHB”), counsel for the plaintiffs in
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this action, and, along with Carney Bates & Pulliam, PLLC, Co-Lead Interim Class Counsel and
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proposed Class Counsel in the consolidated proceedings. I have personal knowledge of the
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matters set forth herein, and could and would testify competently thereto if called upon to do so.
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2.
I am a 1989 graduate of Boston University School of Law. I practiced law in
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Massachusetts from 1989 to 1997. From 1995 through 1997, I was a Lecturer in Law at Boston
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University School of Law. In 1997, I left my position as partner in the Boston firm of Shafner,
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Gilleran & Mortensen, P.C. to move to San Francisco, where I joined LCHB. Since joining
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LCHB in 1997, I have almost exclusively represented plaintiffs in consumer protection class
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actions. I have been a partner with LCHB since 1999. I have served as plaintiffs’ class counsel
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in numerous nationwide consumer class action cases.
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3.
LCHB is one of the oldest, largest, most respected, and most successful law firms
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in the country representing plaintiffs in class actions. LCHB has been repeatedly recognized over
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the years as one of the top plaintiffs’ law firms by both The National Law Journal and The
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American Lawyer, winning the Hot List award every year from 2003-2013, the Mid-Size Hot List
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Award in 2014, and the Hot List Award again in 2015. Best Lawyers and U.S. News have named
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LCHB as a "Law Firm of the Year" each year the publications have given this award. In 2015,
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for the third year in a row, legal news service Law360 selected LCHB as a "Most Feared
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Plaintiffs Firm." Law360 chooses a handful of plaintiffs firms that have won some of the largest
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and most impactful judgments and settlements over the past year.
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4.
LCHB has litigated hundreds of consumer class actions, and has significant
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experience in litigating to vindicate the privacy rights of consumers. For example, LCHB has held
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leadership positions in the following cases involving digital privacy rights:
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i.
In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litigation, No. 3:10-
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md-021784-CRB (N.D. Cal.). LCHB, along with co-counsel, represents plaintiffs
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in a class action alleging that Google intentionally equipped its Google Maps
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DECLARATION OF MICHAEL W. SOBOL IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
CASE NO. 13-CV-05996-PJH (MEJ)
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“Street View” vehicles with Wi-Fi antennas and software that collected data
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transmitted by Wi-Fi networks located in homes within range of the vehicles’
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receptors. Google collected not only basic identifying information about
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individuals’ Wi-Fi networks, but also personal, private data being transmitted over
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their Wi-Fi networks such as emails, usernames, passwords, videos, and
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documents. Plaintiffs allege that Google’s actions violated the federal Wiretap
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Act. On September 10, 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with
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Plaintiffs that Google’s actions are not exempt from the Wiretap Act.
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ii.
In re Carrier IQ Privacy Litigation, MDL No. 2330 (N.D. Cal.). LCHB represents
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plaintiffs in class action litigation alleging that Carrier IQ, Inc., and other
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smartphone manufacturers have violated the Wiretap Act and other privacy laws
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by installing Carrier IQ’s user tracking software, called IQ Agent, on millions of
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cell phones and other mobile devices that use the Android operating system.
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Without notifying users or obtaining consent, IQ Agent records and transmits user
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data, including personally identifiable information, to cellular carriers. The data
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are then analyzed and segmented, including by equipment and subscriber
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identification numbers. IQ Agent cannot be removed and cannot be detected by
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users lacking advanced computing skills.
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iii.
Perkins v. LinkedIn Corporation, No. 13-04303 (N.D. Cal.), LCHB, along with
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co-counsel, represents individuals who joined LinkedIn's network had their names
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and likenesses used without consent by LinkedIn to endorse LinkedIn’s services
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and send repeated emails to their contacts asking that they join LinkedIn. On
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September 15, 2015, the Court granted preliminary approval to $13 million
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settlement, one of the largest per-class member settlements ever in a digital
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privacy class action. In addition to the monetary relief, LinkedIn has agreed to
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make significant changes to Add Connections disclosures and functionality.
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Specifically, LinkedIn has revised disclosures to real-time permission screens
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presented to members using Add Connections, and has agreed to implement new
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DECLARATION OF MICHAEL W. SOBOL IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
CASE NO. 13-CV-05996-PJH (MEJ)
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functionality allowing LinkedIn members to manage their contacts, including
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viewing and deleting contacts and sending invitations, and to stop reminder emails
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from being sent if users have sent connection invitations inadvertently.
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iv.
Shurtleff v. Health Net of Cal., Inc., No. 34-2012-00121600-CU-CL (Sacramento
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Cnty. Superior Court) LCHB, along with co-counsel, represented plaintiffs in a
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patient privacy class action alleging violations of the CMIA. A class settlement in
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the case resulted in significant monetary relief for a class of patients and important
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data security improvements.
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v.
In re Intuit Data Litigation, No. 15-1778 (N.D. Cal.), LCHB serves as Chair of
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Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee and interim Class Counsel representing identity
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theft victims in a nationwide class action lawsuit against Intuit for allegedly failing
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to protect consumers’ data from foreseeable and preventable breaches, and by
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facilitating the filing of fraudulent tax returns through its TurboTax software
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program. The complaint alleges that Intuit failed to protect data provided by
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consumers who purchased TurboTax, used to file an estimated 30 million tax
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returns for American taxpayers every year, from easy access by hackers and other
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cybercriminals. The complaint further alleges that Intuit was aware of the
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widespread use of TurboTax exclusively for the filing of fraudulent tax returns.
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Yet, Intuit failed to adopt basic cyber security policies to prevent this misuse of
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TurboTax, resulting in the filing of fraudulent tax returns in the names of the
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plaintiffs and thousands of other individuals across America, including persons
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who never purchased TurboTax.
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5.
A copy of LCHB’s firm resume, which describes the firm’s experience in class
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action and other complex litigation, can be found at http://www.lchbdocs.com/pdf/firm-
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resume.pdf, and is not attached hereto given its length. LCHB has litigated hundreds of class
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actions and has recovered well over one billion dollars for class members. For example:
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i.
LCHB serves as Co-Class Counsel in Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., (No.
07-5923 WHA, N.D. Cal.), a class action alleging unfair practices and false
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DECLARATION OF MICHAEL W. SOBOL IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
CASE NO. 13-CV-05996-PJH (MEJ)
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representations by Wells Fargo in connection with its imposition of overdraft
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charges. In 2013, the court reinstated a $203 million class judgment that had been
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entered in 2010 following a bench trial. In 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of
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Appeals affirmed the reinstated $203 million judgment.
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ii.
LCHB serves on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in In re Checking Account
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Overdraft Litigation (MDL 2036, S.D. Fla.), a Multi-District Litigation involving
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more than two dozen banks and allegations of unfair practices and false
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representations in connection with the banks’ imposition of overdraft charges.
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Class settlements totaling hundreds of millions of dollars have been approved by
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the court to date.
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LCHB serves as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel and on the Plaintiffs’ Executive
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Committee in In re Chase Bank USA, N.A. “Check Loan” Contract Litigation
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(MDL No. 2032, N.D. Cal.), a nationwide Multi-District class action alleging that
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Chase breached its good faith obligation to credit cardholders by modifying the
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terms of their long-term fixed rate loans. In November 2012, the court granted
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final approval to a $100 million nationwide settlement that provides direct
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payments to approximately one million cardholders and important injunctive
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relief.
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iv.
LCHB served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Multi-District
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Litigation, In re Neurontin Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, No. 04-CV-
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10739-PBS (D. Mass.), arising out of the sale and marketing of the prescription
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drug Neurontin. LCHB was also Of Counsel to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan,
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Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (“Kaiser”) in the litigation. On March 25,
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2010, a jury determined that Pfizer Inc. violated federal antiracketeering law by
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promoting Neurontin for unapproved uses and found Pfizer liable to Kaiser for
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damages of up to $142 million. On November 3, 2010, the Court found Pfizer
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liable under California’s Unfair Competition Law, ordering it to pay restitution to
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Kaiser of approximately $95 million.
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DECLARATION OF MICHAEL W. SOBOL IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
CASE NO. 13-CV-05996-PJH (MEJ)
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v.
LCHB served as Settlement Class Counsel in a nationwide consumer class action
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challenging Progressive Corporation’s private passenger automobile insurance
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sales practices, Kline v. The Progressive Corporation, Circuit No. 02-L-6 (Circuit
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Court of the First Judicial Circuit, Johnson County, Illinois). In 2002, the Court
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approved a settlement valued at approximately $450 million, which included both
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cash and equitable relief.
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Since LCHB began working on this matter, LCHB has spent considerable time and
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resources thoroughly and efficiently investigating the factual issues, analyzing legal claims,
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conducting discovery, working with expert witnesses, briefing relevant issues, and preparing for
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(and participating in) hearings. LCHB’s track record demonstrates that it has the resources,
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experience, and skills to successfully prosecute this case on behalf of the proposed class.
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LCHB is fully committed to prosecuting this case zealously and efficiently.
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LCHB is ready, willing and able to commit the resources necessary to litigate this case
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vigorously. Indeed, LCHB has already committed the time and efforts of multiple attorneys and
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other staff members for the investigation, research, and litigation of this case, and will continue to
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do so.
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8.
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I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct and that this
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I am aware of no conflicts between LCHB and the class.
Declaration was signed in San Francisco, California, on November 13, 2016.
LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN, LLP
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By:
/s/Michael W. Sobol
Michael W. Sobol
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DECLARATION OF MICHAEL W. SOBOL IN
SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
CASE NO. 13-CV-05996-PJH (MEJ)
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