Seven MDL Appointments for Keller
CHICAGO — Last week, Partner Amy Keller was appointed Co-Lead Counsel in In re Blackbaud, Inc., Customer Data Breach Litigation, a nationwide multidistrict litigation in South Carolina.
The case alleges that Blackbaud, Inc., a cloud-based software and service provider, failed to safeguard users’ personal information. The complaint also alleges that Blackbaud did not notify users of the ransomware attack until months later. The data breach impacted nonprofits, corporations, and educational institutions that used Blackbaud’s software and services.
The appointment marks the seventh time in the past four years that Amy—who chairs DiCello Levitt’s Technology, Privacy, and Cybersecurity Practice—has been appointed lead or co-lead counsel in a multidistrict (“MDL”) litigation. Led by Amy, the firm’s Technology, Privacy and Cybersecurity practice encompasses cases and investigations concerning privacy, data security, artificial intelligence, and sophisticated, complex litigation involving the intersection of law and other technologies. Amy was featured in an article last July in law.com as to having the most MDL lead counsel appointments than any other woman lawyer in that period.
The team proposed by Amy and her co-counsel consisted entirely of women and minorities, and the final team appointed by Judge J. Michelle Childs reflected the importance federal courts are placing on the appointment of diverse slates of individuals to lead large, multidistrict litigations. “Representation is important,” Amy says. “And our team is thrilled that Judge Childs is paving the way for women, minorities, and attorneys who have previously not had a large role in these cases to become more active in the federal bar.”
In commenting on her co-lead counsel appointment, specifically, Amy states, “I am fortunate to have a supportive firm backing me, and appreciate all of the opportunities I’ve been given to lead these important cases. It’s an honor to be trusted as a fiduciary to all of the individuals who were affected by Blackbaud’s breach.”
DiCello Levitt was named Law360’s 2020 Cybersecurity Practice Group of the Year. Firm co-founding partner, Adam Levitt, was recognized as a “pioneer” in technology litigation, and Amy accepted the award for Privacy/Data Breach Practice Group of the Year by The National Law Journal, as part of its 2020 Elite Trial Lawyers Award program. Amy and the firm helped achieve the largest consumer data breach settlement in history last year, In re Equifax, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 2800 (N.D. Ga.).
For more, view the complaint and order for In re Blackbaud, Inc., Customer Data Breach Litigation, No. 3:20-mn-02972, Case Management Order No. 5 (Appointment of Leadership Counsel) (D.S.C. Feb. 16, 2021).