Siobhán Murphy, Vincent Tomkiewicz Analyze Illinois BIPA Insurance Coverage Issues for Law360
Chicago, Ill. (October 17, 2019) – Chicago Partners Siobhán M. Murphy and Vincent Tomkiewicz recently authored an article for Law360 titled “Ill. Biometric Law Ruling Will Bring Insurance Coverage Issues,” which discusses the substantial exposure presented by Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and class action cases brought under the law, such as Patel v. Facebook. A version of their article first appeared in Lewis Brisbois’ inaugural Midwest Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Newsletter, published in September.
Ms. Murphy and Mr. Tomkiewicz first cover the relevant statutory language of BIPA and the landmark decision by the Illinois Supreme Court in Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. that drastically reduced the threshold required for an individual to seek redress for alleged violations of the law, which could, along with cases like Patel, lead to potential indemnity exposure in the billions of dollars.
The article then looks at how Illinois courts have addressed coverage for similar class actions brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which was also designed to protect individuals’ privacy rights. After the Illinois Supreme Court decision in Valley Forge Insurance Co. v. Swiderski, many insurers moved to drafting exclusions for certain statutory claims, which leads to the article’s final question “Will the TCPA Exclusions Bar Coverage for BIPA?”
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