Hon. Thomas R. Allen, (Ret.), senior mediator and arbitrator at ADR Systems, recently published his second article this year in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin about Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), 740 ILCS 14/1 et seq. His article, In Wake of BIPA Amendments, Mediation Remains Good Path, reviews the recently signed-into-law amendments to the Act, analyzes how they will affect the legal landscape for existing BIPA actions, and argues that the best path forward for resolving such actions is, still, mediation. To read Judge Allen’s article in full if you are not a Chicago Daily Law Bulletin subscriber, click here.

The amendments—known before being signed into law as “SB2979”—most notably redressed the Illinois Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Cothron v. White Castle System, Inc., 2023 IL 128004. In that case, the Court ruled that statutory damage claims under sections 15(b) and 15(d) of the Act accrued on a “per-scan basis,” as Judge Allen put it. Now, such claims accrue with each use of a different method by which a private entity collects an individual’s biometric information without informed written consent.

Despite this change, Judge Allen writes that “the new amendments may be less than [litigants] desired” because they are “changing much for the future and little for the present,” where only one BIPA case has been tried to verdict and existing actions remain unaffected by the amendments.

Mediation, Judge Allen argues, provides the best way forward.

“By its very nature, the mediation process obviates risks for both sides in a legal landscape rife with delays, uncertainty, untested theories of defense and lingering concerns about the outcome of another jury trial,” wrote Judge Allen. “With many cases pending for four or five years and with certain legal boundaries more firmly established (per-scan and electronic signature issues being settled), parties can opt for mediation for a better sense of the settlement value of their case. The process offers immediacy and finality, two solid benefits that should not be undervalued.”

This is Judge Allen’s second article in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin about BIPA, his writings in both being informed by his growing practice as a mediator of class action disputes derived from the Act. In his first article, which he published in April, Judge Allen reviewed the core features of the then-unamended Act, current case law and litigation strategies for claims derived from it and argued for the merits of mediating these disputes.

“[M]ediation returns control to the parties,” wrote Judge Allen back in April, “allowing counsel to serve their clients’ best interests efficiently, at a lower cost and with no surprises.” It is a truth that remains equally relevant to class counsel and BIPA litigants then and now.

To read Judge Allen’s newest article, click here.

…………

Hon. Thomas R. Allen, (Ret.) has over 40 years of legal experience. On the bench, he stood out as an exceptionally intelligent, even-tempered and common-sense jurist. Judge Allen served most of his judicial career in the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Chancery Division, where he settled numerous commercial and business-related cases. He brings this knowledge and a broad-based, 30-year career as a litigator to his practice as a senior mediator and arbitrator, where he has become a favored mediator of BIPA, data breach and other privacy-related complex class actions.

View Judge Allen’s Full Bio

Request Judge Allen’s Availability

ADR Systems, It’s Settled.®