A Group Action – sometimes known as a Class Action or a Multi-Party Action – is where hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands or even millions of people can claim together as part of one joint case. This allows for many cases with similar issues to be pursued efficiently without the need to bring separate proceedings in different courts across the UK.
To make sure the action runs smoothly, law firms are usually appointed by order of a High Court to a Steering Committee, and they will be responsible for the overall conduct of the litigation. We have been appointed with seats on Steering Committees, and this includes for the first GDPR Group Litigation Order proceedings in England and Wales, the British Airways Group Action; an action that could lead to an estimated total compensation bill of up to £3.5bn.
Data breach compensation claims have become more prominent during the years we have been representing victims on a No Win, No Fee basis. We started our first group/multi-party data action in 2015. Four years on and we are now representing victims in over 45 different major data breach group actions.
It's important to get the right legal representation. We know of other law firms that have missed key court deadlines for actions and issued cases prematurely, which resulted in huge problems for their clients. It can also be the case that some law firms and Claims Management Companies do not take effective action when they should because they either do not know how to, or because a Claims Management Company may need to refer cases over to a law firm. We believe in taking action effectively, which is why we launch our new legal actions without delay. For example, we issue a formal Letter Before Action to the Defendant as soon as we can, and we are not in the habit of just "registering" people's information to take action later on. We offer proper No Win, No Fee legal representation as soon as we can, which is normally right after we launch an action when a new data breach has come to light. In the Ticketmaster data breach, we sent our formal Letter Before Action in July 2018, just after victims of the breach had been notified. In the Virgin Media data breach case, we issued it the week after news of the breach hit the headlines.
Fast and effective action can be key for our clients, which is why we work this way.
Experience is essential which is why, for many years, people have sought our specialist legal advice and representation. As of early 2019, the average data protection breach compensation amount for victims in respect of major multi-party/group action data breach litigation is £8,500.00.
As the frequency of major data breaches increases and the impact from those breaches intensifies, we expect this data breach compensation figure to rise.
Our History And Experience Speaks For Itself
Since our first data breach case, we have been at the forefront of pioneering data breach compensation claims.
We are helping people with a wide range of data breach group actions/multi-party actions, from serious breaches of medical information like the 56 Dean Street Clinic leak and the NHS Digital breach to monumental cases like the Equifax data breach of 2017, the British Airways data breach and Ticketmaster data breach incidents in 2018, and serious breaches of confidence such as the We-Vibe data breach scandal.
In addition to our experience of multi-party claims arising from data breaches, other notable experience includes our appointment to the Steering Committee by the High Court of Justice in the BA Group Action.
Data Leak Lawyers have represented a substantial cohort of claimants in other Group Litigation Order actions. Aside from our work in multi-party claims, we also represent substantial numbers of individual claimants that range from medical data leaks to council and social services data breaches.
Some of those cases are particularly sensitive. As a firm of lawyers who also take forward large numbers of complex and serious data protection breach compensation claims, we can offer a network of legal experts from our in-house staff to the barristers we have close relations with, and indeed the lawyers and firms we work with around the world.
The combination of expertise in data compensation and mass consumer actions allows you the confidence to know that we are dedicated to the fight for justice.
Virgin Media Group Action
If you've received confirmation from Virgin Media that your information has been exposed in their cybersecurity data breach, you can sign-up to join our compensation action.
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British Airways Group Action
The British Airways breach affected around 380,000 people. If your data has been compromised in the breach then join our Group Action against the UK's largest airliner.
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Equifax Group Action
Between 2011 and 2016 an astonishing 15.2 million U.K. data records were accessed by hackers due to Equifax failing to patch known security holes in their systems.
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We-Vibe Group Action
'Smart Sex Toy' manufacturer We-Vibe were found to be collecting intimate data on how customers used their app without given consent for their data to be shared.
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AQA Group Action
A number of cyber-attacks launched by hackers enabled then to access up to 65,000 examiners' data, stored on AQA's examiner application system and examiner extranet.
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56 Dean St. Group Action
Sexual health clinic - 56 Dean Street - accidentally sent emails to a number of patients which included the full names and email addresses of the other recipients.
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TalkTalk Group Action
Back in 2015, a prolonged cyber-attack against telephone communications giant TalkTalk resulted in tens of thousands of customers' details being breached.
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Blackpool NHS Trust Action
Highly sensitive data of current and former employees of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was posted online and remained there for almost a year.
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Harbottle Surgery Group Action
After the closure of the Harbottle GP Surgery, the NHS passed on private and confidential medical records of hundreds of patients without their consent.
Join NowBloomsbury Patient Action
The names of a members support group for HIV-positive people were disclosed twice inside a matter of months back in 2014 due to an outdated IT system in place.
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Capita Disability Group Action
An assessor working on behalf of Capita admitted taking screen captured images of disability benefits applications which is a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.
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Greenwich University Action
Personal, medical and other sensitive information of University of Greenwich students was posted online which has breached data protection and human rights laws.
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