(312) 621-2000
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Barnow and Associates, P.C.

Ben Barnow

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Our Attorney

Ben Barnow is nationally recognized for his experience in leading some of the nation’s largest consumer class actions. He has successfully led the prosecution of a number of large-scale class actions relating to consumer protection issues, consumer data security breaches, and antitrust violations.

His representation is both on the trial court and appellate level. Mr. Barnow has been appointed to and served in leadership positions in class cases located in state and federal courts throughout the country, including many MDL proceedings. The following link includes a representative list of Mr. Barnow’s cases (pending and successfully resolved). Case Results. In October 2014, Law360 recognized Mr. Barnow as a titan of the plaintiff’s bar. See Sindhu Sundar, Law360, Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar: Ben Barnow (Oct. 8, 2014), available at http://www.law360.com/articles/585655/titan-of-the-plaintiffs-bar-ben-barnow. During his over forty-year legal career, Mr. Barnow has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in many types of litigation. Mr. Barnow received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin.

Admissions

Illinois New York

  • Supreme Court of the United States
  • United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

Contact Information:

Phone: (312) 621-2000 Fax: (312) 641-5504 Email: b.barnow@barnowlaw.com

Speaking Engagements

HarrisMartin’s Data Breach Litigation Conference: The Coming of Age Agenda (San Diego, CA, March 25, 2015), topic: “Creative Approaches to Settling Data Breach Cases.” Bridgeport Continuing Education’s 2014 National Consumer Class Action Conference (Chicago, IL, Jun. 12-13, 2014); topic: “Privacy/TCPA Class Actions: State of the Law, Claims and Defenses, What Does the Future Hold?” HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Target Data Security Breach Litigation (San Diego, CA, Mar. 26, 2014); topic: “Settlement of a Data Breach Case.” NetDiligence Cyber Risk & Privacy Liability Forum (Marina del Rey, CA, Oct. 11–12, 2012). 25th Annual Producer Conference (Stowe, VT, Sept. 10–12, 2012); topic: “Cyber 2.0—The Evolution of Cyber in the Boardroom.” NetDiligence 2012 Cyber Risk & Privacy Liability Forum (Philadelphia, PA, June 4–5, 2012); topic: “State of the Cyber Nation—Cases, Theories, and Damages.” Tulane University Law School’s symposium on The Problem of Multidistrict Litigation (February 15–16, 2008); topic: “The Practicalities of Multidistrict Litigation.”

Our Case Studies

Latest Class Action Lawsuits

Data Security Breach

In Re: TJX Retail Security Breach Litigation,

MDL No. 1838.

Ben Barnow served as one of Co-Lead Settlement Class Counsel for the Consumer Track in this MDL proceeding relating to the theft of approximately 45,000,000 credit and debit card numbers used at TJX stores and the personal information of over 454,000 TJX customers. Mr. Barnow was the architect of a settlement that made available benefits valued at over $200 million to the Class. The Honorable Judge Young granted final approval to the settlement, which he referred to as “excellent” and as containing “innovative” and “groundbreaking” elements. The structure of this settlement has come to serve as a blueprint for many data breach class action settlements to date.

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Automotive Cases

Warner v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

 

Ben Barnow served as one of Co-Lead Counsel in this litigation regarding claims of excessive frame rust to certain Toyota vehicles, yielding a recent landmark settlement estimated at $3.4 billion. Under the settlement, owners of 2005–2010 Toyota Tacoma, 2007–2008 Toyota Tundra, and 2005–2008 Toyota Sequoia vehicles are eligible for free frame inspections for a period of twelve years from the date the vehicle was originally sold or leased, or one year from the date of the Final Order and Judgment, whichever is longer. Vehicles that exhibit excessive frame rust are eligible for a free frame replacement under the settlement.

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Consumer Protection

Schwab v. America Online, Inc.

America Online Access Litigation

Ben Barnow served as Class Counsel and Co-Chair in this highly publicized litigation relating to AOL’s representation that users would have unlimited access to AOL for $19.95/month and the connectivity problems that ensued in conjunction therewith. In the face of what was ultimately over one hundred class actions filed nationwide, Mr. Barnow organized over 50 law firms and set up the co-chairmanship and the Executive Committee, which brought order and resolution to this litigation. A settlement was reached and was granted final approval, resulting in a multi-million dollar benefit to a Class estimated to include over 8 million people.

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Antitrust Cases

Wisconsin Civil Microsoft Antitrust Litigation

 

Ben Barnow was one of Co-Lead Class Counsel in this indirect purchaser antitrust lawsuit. Mr. Barnow and his co-counsel successfully petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to recognize the rights of indirect purchasers to recover under Wisconsin’s antitrust laws. Olstad v. Microsoft Corp., 700 N.W.2d 139 (Wis. 2005). Subsequently thereto, Mr. Barnow negotiated a settlement valued at approximately $224 million that was granted final approval by the Court.

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If facts are changing, law cannot be static.
~The Honorable Felix Frankfurter