Bethany Gayle Lukitsch

Bethany concentrates her practice in complex civil litigation and class actions, including the defense of antitrust matters, mass tort and product liability claims and commercial disputes. She represents global clients, including Fortune 100 companies and various product manufacturers, as national counsel in various federal and state courts around the country and has significant first chair and liaison counsel experience in multidistrict litigation and complex civil and class action litigation. Bethany frequently prepares internal client witnesses for testimony, interacts with expert witnesses and counsels clients regarding complex discovery proceedings, including international discovery.

Firm/Organization: McGuireWoods LLP

Blogs: Class Action Countermeasures, Password Protected

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Class Action Countermeasures

9th Circuit Saves Nationwide Settlement Classes

By Bethany Gayle Lukitsch, Bryan A. Fratkin & Anthony Le on June 7, 2019

Sometimes settlement with a putative class of nationwide consumers is the best option for resolution. However, since the initial ruling of the Ninth Circuit in In re Hyundai & Kia Fuel Econ. Litig., the mechanism to go about doing so has been in flux. On June 6, 2019, the full en banc Ninth Circuit finally answered class action practitioners’ questions and affirmed the district court’s June 2015 final settlement approval order and certification of a…

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Privacy Class Action Win Underscores Need for TCPA Reform

By Bethany Gayle Lukitsch & Neelam Takhar on May 8, 2019

On April 12, an Oregon federal jury in Wakefield v. Visalus, Case No. 3:15-cv-01857-SI, handed down what may turn out to be the largest Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action verdict ever awarded. Health supplement marketer ViSalus, a lifestyle products company, was charged with making more than 1.8 million autodialed calls in violation of the TCPA. The court certified a class of 800,000 members. Although the jury did not assess a monetary award, the…

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Eighth Circuit Undoes Target Data Breach Settlement Class

By Bethany Gayle Lukitsch on February 20, 2017

The $10 million settlement class in the Target data breach case was unraveled by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in a recent decision that will force the district court to address the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo v. Robins. The Eighth Circuit remanded the case to the district court, finding that the lower court did not conduct a rigorous analysis of the record under Rule 23 prior to certifying the settlement…

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Vague Pleading Causes Data Privacy Class Action Against Grocer to Fail at the Check-out

By Bethany Gayle Lukitsch on October 7, 2016

Particularity and plausibility are recurring themes from Judge Reagan’s order last week in the most recent round of litigation stemming from a 2012-2013 data breach at Schnucks grocery. See Community Bank, et al. v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-01125-MJR-RJD (S.D. Ill. Sept. 28, 2016). Unlike previous litigation brought by the grocery store’s customers, this litigation was initiated by four financial institutions as a putative class action seeking alleged damages incurred while helping their customers affected…

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DOJ Cybersecurity Unit Releases “Best Practices” For Cyber Breaches

By Bethany Gayle Lukitsch on May 4, 2015

Last week, in conjunction with the Criminal Division’s Cybersecurity Industry Roundtable, the U.S. Department of Justice released its “Best Practices” guide for preparing for and responding to a cyber incident. According to remarks by Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell at the Roundtable, one study found that “the United States is number one in data breaches world-wide – accounting for about 76 percent of all incidents in 2014” and another study “estimated the annual cost…

Bethany Gayle Lukitsch

9th Circuit Saves Nationwide Settlement Classes

Privacy Class Action Win Underscores Need for TCPA Reform

Eighth Circuit Undoes Target Data Breach Settlement Class

Vague Pleading Causes Data Privacy Class Action Against Grocer to Fail at the Check-out

DOJ Cybersecurity Unit Releases “Best Practices” For Cyber Breaches

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