Debra R. Bernard

Defense of Google, Inc. in Multiple Putative Class Actions re: BIPA and Google Photos

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Circuit Court of Illinois, Will County
Litigation counsel for Google in multiple putative class actions alleging that aspects of Google Photos violate the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). In the first case, Rivera v. Google, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, obtained summary judgment victory on the ground that the plaintiffs had not suffered an injury sufficient to establish Article III standing. Rivera is ongoing, following the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s decision ruling regarding Article III standing for BIPA claims in Bryant v. Compass.

Prelipceanu v. Jumio

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County.
Counsel for Jumio in case alleging that Jumio’s facial recognition identity verification service violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act; resolved the case on terms very favorable to Jumio and achieved final court approval of settlement and denial of class member’s objection.

Marshall v. Jumio Corporation

Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Secured voluntary dismissal of putative class action and individual claim alleging that Jumio’s facial recognition identity verification service violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Webb v. Plochman, Inc.

Circuit Court of Illinois, Kankakee County
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act in connection with the use of finger scan time clocks to authenticate employees’ time. Case settled.

Fisher v. HP Property et.al.

Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Lead counsel for defendant Marcon International, Inc. d/b/a KEYper Systems in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act in connection with the use of finger scan key management system manufactured by KEYper Systems.

Cothron v. White Castle System, Inc. et.al.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Secured voluntary dismissal of claims against Cross Match Technologies, Inc. in class action alleging that co-defendant’s use of its finger scan devices violated BIPA.

Komorski v. OHM Concession Group et al. Cothron v. White Castle Food Products, LLC et. al.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Secured voluntary dismissal of claims against Cross Match Technologies, Inc. in class action alleging that co-defendant’s use of its finger scan devices violated BIPA.

Cothron v. White Castle System, Inc. (representing LeadingAge as amicus)

7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Counsel for LeadingAge in amicus brief in support of appellant on the issue of when the statute of limitations accrues under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., Et Al.

Circuit Court of Illinois, Lake County
Represented Six Flags on appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court and the Illinois Supreme Court in connection with issues of first impression under the Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Rafidia v. Keyme, Inc.

Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act in connection with the alleged use of finger scan technology at key duplication kiosks. Settled on terms favorable to KeyMe, including a reversionary fund, and which received final approval by the court.

Grabowska v. The Millard Group Llc

Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Lead counsel for defendants in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act in connection with the use of finger scan time clocks to authenticate employees’ time.

Sanchez v. Elite Labor Services Ltd. D/B/A Elite Staffing, Inc. Et Al.
Johnson v. Gold Standard Baking & Elite Labor Services, Et Al.

Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Lead counsel for defendants in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act in connection with the use of finger scan time clocks to authenticate employees’ time.

Carroll v. Crème De La Crème, Inc.

Cook County, Ill, Chancery Div.
Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act for the alleged use of finger scan technology for secure access to its facilities. This case was settled on terms favorable to Defendant including an injunction only class-wide settlement with no payment to class members and which received final approval by the court.

Van Elzen v. Global Strategy Group

U.s. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in connection with political text messaging.

Mizrahi v. Kalamata Research Services

Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in connection with political text messaging. Obtained voluntary dismissal prior to any discovery or motion practice.

Logiudice v. Intelemedia Communications, Inc. et al.
Johnson V. Intelemedia Communications, Inc. et al.

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Cases settled favorably on an individual basis.

Shamblin v. Obama for America, DNC Services Corp., and New Partners Consulting, Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
Lead counsel for defendants Obama for America and DNC in putative class action alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for robocalls made during the 2012 campaign to reelect President Obama. Successfully defeated class certification.

Katz v. Getty Images, Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Lead counsel for Getty Images in a putative class action alleging breach of contract. Case settled early on an individual basis on terms favorable to client.

Thompson v. Getty Images (US), Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Lead counsel for global imagery provider in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Right of Publicity Act and obtained dismissal with prejudice of the entire case without any discovery.

Serafin v. Victoria’s Secret Stores, LLC

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act , breach of contract and unjust enrichment in connection with return policy. Case settled early on an individual basis on terms favorable to client.

Dermody v. L Brands, Inc. (f/k/a Limited Brands, Inc. and Victoria’s Secret Stores Brand Management, Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Lead counsel for defendants in putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Case settled early on an individual basis. on terms favorable to client.

Fahey v. Career Education Corporation Title

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Represented defendant Career Education Corporation in a class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for the sending of text messages promoting educational institutions. Case settled on classwide basis with reversionary common fund.

Rojas v. Career Education Corporation

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Represented defendant Career Education Corporation in a class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for the sending of text messages promoting educational institutions. Case settled on classwide basis with reversionary common fund.

Hinton v. NASCAR Holdings Inc.

Superior Court of the District of Columbia
Lead counsel for NASCAR Holdings Inc. in a putative class action alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Case settled early on individual basis on terms favorable to client.

Jaber v. NASCAR Holdings, Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Lead counsel for NASCAR Holdings in a putative class action alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in connection with text messages. Case settled early on individual basis on terms favorable to client.

Pimental v. Google Inc. and Slide Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Represented Google in a putative class action alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in connection with text messages sent from a group messaging platform.

Rhea Drugstore, Inc. v. Kirby Lester, LLC

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging TCPA violations in connection with promotional faxes. Successfully moved to stay the case pending resolution of Petition for Retroactive Waiver filed with the Federal Communications Commission. Case settled favorably.

Schleifer v. Etison LLC 

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Lead counsel for defendant in putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Case was dismissed prior to answer or motion practice.

Corporation and Ecologic Leasing Solutions, LLC

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Lead counsel for plaintiff Captaris in an appeal to the U.S. District Court of a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) decision and a claim for trademark infringement. Case settled favorably.

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli Ag, et al. v. The Hershey Company, et al.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Represented Lindt & Ghiradelli Chocolate Company in litigation for trade dress infringement in connection with product packaging. Case settled favorably.

Gentieu et. al. v. Tony Stone Images/Chicago Inc.*

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Successfully represented defendant Getty Images/Tony Stone Images in high-profile copyright infringement litigation and breach of contract case between an individual photographer and one of the largest stock photography houses, Getty Images Inc. (parent of Tony Stone Images). Won summary judgment and  awarded fees. (The case settled while on appeal). 255 F. Supp. 2d 838 (N.D. Ill. 2003) (summary judgment granted), 2003 WL 22048059 (N.D. Ill. 2003) (fee award).
Gentieu alleged a breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and copyright infringement. In a very lengthy opinion, the Court engaged in an extensive analysis of the plaintiffs’ photographs and the allegedly infringing photographs and in a decision of significant import in the copyright area, clarified the scope of copyright protection in photographic images.

Gold Medal Products Inc. v. C. Cretors & Company

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
Represented defendant Cretors, a popcorn machine manufacturer, in a case alleging false advertising. Successfully defended against a preliminary injunction, which was denied. Case settled.

Heavenly Ham Company, et al. v. Honey Baked Ham (HBH) Franchise Company LLC*

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Successfully defended action involving breach of contract, trademark infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty, including counterclaims, on behalf of the Honey Baked Ham Franchise Company. We were granted summary judgment on most of plaintiffs’ claims, leaving for trial our counterclaims. Case settled favorably to our client after summary judgment rulings. 2005 WL 331558 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 7, 2005).

Joby Inc. v. ToCAD America, Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Represented defendant Tocad America in a case alleging trade dress infringement, unfair competition, false designation of origin and various state law claims, including false advertising claims and unfair competition. After filing of summary judgment motion, the case settled on terms favorable to client.

Miller's Ale House Inc. V. Ram International I, LLC

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Represented RAM International I, a restaurant chain, in case alleging trademark infringement. Case settled favorably with no payment to Miller's.

Ram International LLC v. The Ram Restaurant & Bar Inc., et al.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Represented plaintiff RAM International, a restaurant chain, in a case alleging trademark infringement. Case settled favorably to client.

Riddell Inc. v. Schutt Sports Inc.

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
Lead counsel on Lanham Act false advertising counterclaims in patent infringement matter and obtained summary judgment in Riddell's favor on $40 million counterclaim two weeks before trial.

Rotec Industries Inc. v. Mitsubishi Corporation, et al.*

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Represented Mitsubishi in patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, commercial bribery and tortious interference actions involving the equipment supplied at Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, China. Won four motions for summary judgment (two in Illinois and two in Oregon). The favorable ruling on the patent claim was affirmed by the Federal Circuit and the commercial bribery and tortious interference judgments were affirmed by the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit decision in essence revised Ninth Circuit law based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court case cited. 348 F. 3d 1116 (9th Cir. 2003); 215 F. 3d 1246 (Fed. Cir. 2000).

Field System Machining v. Vestas-American Wind Technology

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Represented defendant in a misappropriation of trade secrets case. Successfully moved to stay case due to arbitration clause in nondisclosure agreement providing for arbitration in Denmark and case was never refiled in Denmark or elsewhere.

General Litigation

FLOORgraphics Inc. v. News America Marketing In-Store Services Inc. et. al.

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Represented News America Marketing in litigation involving tortious interference with contractual relations and prospective contractual relations, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, unfair competition, trade libel and misappropriation of trade secrets. Managed the e-discovery process and led the defense of the computer fraud claims both pretrial and in trial. Case resolved mid-trial.

Bank Of America v. Veluchamy, et al.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Represented defendant in pretrial proceedings and at trial in alleged fraudulent transfer adversary proceeding.

* Prior Experience

Congleton v. Giancaspro

Trial Court of Michigan, Berrien County
Michigan Court of Appeals
Pro bono representation of Giancaspro in child custody dispute in which Congleton attempted to invalidate Giancaspro’s second parent adoptions that occurred in Illinois in 2001 and 2004. Successfully argued in the trial that the Illinois adoptions were valid and enforceable and Giancaspro was ultimately awarded legal and physical custody. Argued and won the appeal in the Michigan Court of Appeals of the trial court decision.

In Re E.K.

U.S. Immigration Court
Represented (pro bono) a Kenyan woman in a political asylum claim based on her persecution on account of her religious beliefs and her status as a Kikuyu woman who had not been subjected to female genital mutilation. Client was granted political asylum by the Immigration Court.

In Re H.C., et al.*

U.S. Immigration Court

Represented (pro bono) a Guinean woman, H.C., her husband and six children in a political asylum case involving FGM (female genital mutilation). H.C., a leading and outspoken advocate against the practice in Guinea, sought to prevent this practice from being performed on her five-year-old U.S. citizen twin daughters. Prevailed in part, on the basis of a novel theory in this Circuit that FGM is a permanent, ongoing and continuing harm that should entitle the applicant to asylum without having to prove a well-founded fear of future persecution.

* Prior Experience