The Masquerade Ball | McDermott Article in Corporate Counsel

The Masquerade Ball: When Plaintiffs Mask Claims to Get Around a Lack of a Private Cause of Action

Overview


Whether a law provides for a private cause of action can have huge consequences for potential corporate defendants. Such a right opens the floodgates to plaintiffs, often represented on a contingency fee basis, asserting claims that may be meritless. Some plaintiffs, however, have found ways to also assert similar claims even when the law does not provide private causes of action.

Richard Salgado and Ashley Hoff unpack how companies can protect themselves against the danger of imposter claims that attempt to sidestep the lack of private causes of action in the underlying state privacy laws by masquerading as common law claims.