Josh Kantrow, Mary Smigielski Quoted in Law360 Article on New BIPA Practice Group

Chicago, Ill. (Februay 14, 2019) – Chicago Partners Josh M. Kantrow and Mary A. Smigielski were quoted by Law360 in their article “Lewis Brisbois Forms Ill. Biometric Privacy Practice Group.” Lewis Brisbois announced the formation of the new Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) practice group in a press release on February 13th.

Mr. Kantrow and Ms. Smigielski, who chair the new practice group, spoke to Law360 about their experience with BIPA cases to date, how they built the new team, and their reasons for creating it.

"What we've done is marshal the firm's resources not only in the Chicago office but in our extensive employment practice group together to form this group," said Mr. Kantrow. "It's not just defending cases, but it's providing counsel to clients to lessen their exposure to BIPA lawsuits."

"I'm thrilled,” said Ms. Smigielski. “I think we have an immense depth of talent and resources for the benefit of our clients and Illinois business."

The impetus for creating the new group came from a recent Illinois Supreme Court decision in Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, that lowered the threshold to bring suit under BIPA.

Because of this ruling, Ms. Smigielski told Law360, “we decided it would be a good idea to have this practice group to coordinate everything better and bring all of the immense talent that we have into one group.”

"The state of the law has been somewhat clarified by the Rosenbach decision on whether actual harm has to be shown or not,” said Ms. Smigielski, “but there's a lot of things that are left open that are still uncertain."

Ms. Smigielski and Mr. Kantrow also discussed the future of the new practice, anticipating growth and cross-collaboration with Lewis Brisbois’ other practice groups: "For example, our IP group is key to determining some of the technology (issues)," Ms. Smigielski said.

Read the full article here (subscription required).