Edelson

Edelson PC, formerly known as Edelson LLC, Edelson McGuire LLC, and KamberEdelson, LLC, is an American law firm with attorneys in Illinois, Colorado, and California. The firm specializes in plaintiffs' consumer class actions and commercial litigation, with a focus on technology, privacy, and banking law. In addition to its class action practice, Edelson PC provides strategic and legal advice to start-ups.^[1]

Offices

Chicago: The firm formed as KamberEdelson in 2007 and was housed in Chicago’s historic Monadnock Building before moving to its main office location at 350 North LaSalle Street in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Designed to resemble a technology start-up, Edelson PC’s Chicago office has garnered national attention for its unique aesthetic, including being recognized as one of the best law office spaces in America in a 2012 national Above The Law survey.^[2]

The Chicago office, replete with an Xbox 360 gaming center, pool table, and its signature ping-pong table (which converts to a stainless steel conference table for meetings, depositions, or mediations) has helped brand the boutique as an emerging leader in high-stakes technology class actions, privacy suits, and other national litigation.

Denver: Edelson PC's Denver office is managed by Partner Steven L. Woodrow, whose practice focuses on consumer class actions.^[3]

Firm Culture

Edelson PC has an informal corporate culture that borrows from the office environments of technology start-ups. In its adaptation of the tech start-up model to law practice, Edelson PC has become known for its casual office environment and its emphasis on work/play balance.

Edelson PC’s office culture has been the focus of several articles and publications. A journalist for Chicago Lawyer Magazine noted that “[Edelson] associates had to once consider walking the hallways with protective glasses because of an ongoing battle waged with modified Nerf guns,” and the office has been described as “a high-energy place with a lot of noise.”^[4] Above The Law reports that the firm provides free lunches to its associates, who eat together in the firm’s main conference room. Founder and Managing Partner Jay Edelson views his emphasis on a relaxed office culture as a “better way to run a law firm—less hardcore, less rigid . . . You can actually enjoy being a lawyer and practicing law.”^[4]

Pranks: Edelson attorneys have gained a reputation for the pranks they play on their summer associates and others. In 2013, Above the Law reported on one of the firm’s elaborate pranks, which featured an actor who the firm hired to pose as an outrageous, narcissistic summer associate. The firm hired two other actors, one to pose as the summer associate’s girlfriend and another to play an out-of-work attorney who was “paid” to do the summer associate’s work at the firm. The actor “worked” at the firm for a week before the truth was revealed to summer associates, through a video displayed at a firm-wide event.^[5]

Associate Training

Named by the American Bar Association as “one of the most creative minds in the legal profession” for his views on associate training and firm management, Founder and Managing Partner Jay Edelson has been recognized for his unique approach to associate training and his firm’s deviation from the stratified ordering of other law firms. Edelson PC diverges from traditional law firm hierarchy in favor of empowering the attorneys most responsible for managing its cases, even if they are young associates.

The firm adopts an unconventional training system that Jay Edelson has termed “guided independence.”^[6] As Edelson describes it, all Edelson PC associates, regardless of their level of experience, are expected to take responsibility for their caseload. Knowing that this is the expectation, Edelson PC trains its associates to use their knowledge of their cases and their personal skill sets to make their own decisions, take on greater responsibility, and contribute to case management and strategy in a more meaningful way.

Edelson PC has also been recognized for its unique summer associate program. In a 2013 article published by Bloomberg Law, Jay Edelson called for an “end to the summer associate sideshow” and urged law firms to begin treating their summer associates like the “almost-lawyers that they are.” Though Edelson PC conducts formal seminars and mentoring programs, Edelson stresses the importance of exposing summer associates to meaningful, substantive work—drafting dispositive motions, writing sections of appellate briefs, taking the lead on discovery issues, and weighing in on litigation strategy—to assess the capabilities of each summer associate. As a way of recognizing the value that each respective summer associate brings to the firm, Edelson PC offers signing bonuses to the summer associates who accept offers of full-time employment.

Articles, Publications, and Speaking Engagements

Edelson attorneys are frequently featured in legal journals and publications and have written on a wide array of topics.

The firms’ attorneys are active contributors to a Thomson Reuters’ Legal Solutions blog entitled “Pardon the Disruption.” The inaugural post called for law firms to forgo the traditional billable hour in lieu of a fee structure centered on client goals and expectations.^[7] Other installations have focused on suggested improvements to law school curricula,^[8] the potential impact of “Big Data” on the legal profession,^[9] and the need to teach the “business of lawyering” in law school.^[10]

Jay Edelson’s articles have been featured by publications such as Bloomberg Law, the American Bar Association, and Above The Law. He has written on a range of topics, including the need to re-evaluate the traditional summer associate program,^[11] alternative methods for training young associates, and class action practice more generally.^[12]

Edelson’s attorneys have also testified before the United States Senate on class action matters and have repeatedly been asked to work on federal and state legislation involving cellular telephony, privacy, and other issues. They have appeared on dozens of national and international television and radio programs to discuss the firm’s cases, speak regularly at seminars on consumer protection and class action issues, and have served as testifying experts in cases involving class action and consumer protection issues.

Key personnel

The owner of the firm is Jay Edelson.^[1]

Edelson has been appointed lead counsel in dozens of class actions, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients. He also represents unions, Hollywood financiers and advises politicians. He is a graduate of Brandeis University and the University of Michigan Law School.^[13]

Significant cases

Edelson PC has helped shape consumer rights throughout the United States through industry-changing settlements and judicial opinions in several areas of the law.

Privacy Cases

Edelson attorneys have been appointed lead counsel in a wide variety of privacy-related class actions, and have litigated some of the largest class actions in the area of privacy law. One federal judge noted that Edelson PC has “significant and particularly specialized expertise in electronic privacy litigation and class actions.”

• Curry v. AvMed, Inc.: The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a ruling extending the damages recoverable to consumers who are victims of a data breach, leading to commentators claiming that it has the potential to result in billions of dollars for consumers. ^[14]
• Harris, et al. v. comScore, Inc.: Edelson PC was appointed class counsel in a suit alleging improper data collecting practices by one of the world’s largest internet analytics companies. Edelson PC successfully certified a class estimated by several sources to be the largest privacy case ever certified on an adversarial basis.
• In re T-Mobile Sidekick Litigation: Edelson PC was appointed co-lead counsel in a cloud computing data loss case against T-Mobile and Microsoft. Edelson attorneys successfully negotiated a settlement providing the class with potential settlement benefits valued at over $12 million.
• In re Netflix Privacy Litigation: Edelson PC was appointed sole lead counsel in a suit alleging that Netflix violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by illegally retaining customer viewing information. Edelson PC secured final approval of a $9 million cy pres settlement on behalf of class members.
• Amazon Kindle Class Action: Edelson PC successfully prosecuted a class action against Amazon over allegations that it illegally deleted copies of users’ e-book versions of George Orwell’s 1984. The settlement resulted in a change of Amazon’s business practices and a donation of Edelson PC’s $150,000 fee to charity.

Banking Cases

Edelson attorneys have represented millions of American homeowners in several class action lawsuits against large financial institutions. The firm has secured court orders requiring banks to provide loan modifications to those who qualify under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, and has litigated several class actions alleging unfair reduction of borrowers’ home equity lines of credit. Edelson PC’s settlements have restored billions of dollars in home credit lines to people throughout the country.

• Wigod v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.: In a putative class action on behalf of homeowners under the Home Affordable Modification Program, Edelson PC obtained a landmark opinion from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that recognizes the right of private litigants to sue to enforce HAMP applications and trial plans. In delivering the opinion, the Seventh Circuit noted that, “prompt resolution of [Edelson’s putative HAMP class action] is necessary not only for the good of the litigants but for the good of the country.”
• JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. HELOC Litigation and related Litigation: Jay Edelson was appointed co-Lead interim class counsel, overseeing more than 10 consolidated nationwide class actions challenging JPMorgan Chase Bank's HELOC suspensions and reductions in the wake of the housing market collapse in 2008. The resulting settlement reinstated between 3.2 and 4.7 billion dollars worth of HELOCs. The firm has also been appointed class counsel in similar litigation against Citibank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Bank N.A.

Rod Blagojevich

In 2009, Edelson PC, then known as Edelson McGuire, was chosen to head former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's defense of civil lawsuits brought against him.^[15] The firm has also represented the former Governor’s wife, Patti Blagojevich.

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Jay Edelson was named one of "40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 To Watch" by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, where he was heralded for his “reputation for integrity in the rough and tumble class action arena.”^[16] He was dubbed one of the "most creative" legal minds for his views of associate development, and also named a "Legal Rebel" by the American Bar Association Journal.

Several Edelson PC attorneys have been named “Super Lawyers,” including Jay Edelson,^[17] Rafey S. Balabanian,^[18] Ryan D. Andrews,^[19] Ari J. Scharg,^[20] and Roger J. Perlstadt.^[21]

References

External links

• edelson.com