Theodore E. Yale
Associate | Philadelphia
Theodore E. Yale

Theodore E. Yale is a senior associate in the firm’s Cybersecurity, Privacy and AI practice specializing in complex litigation and aggregate litigation including class actions, MDLs, and mass torts. He has particular experience defending against consumer privacy claims against public and privacy companies and other claims against websites, apps, and technology companies.

Mr. Yale has won some of the highest-profile tech victories in the country through landmark judicial rulings and favorable settlements. Most recently, he was part of the trial team in the only Big Tech privacy class action ever to reach trial, and played a key role in obtaining a directed verdict for Dechert’s client, Flo Health, dismissing the plaintiffs’ lead claim seeking $34 billion in damages. The victory was profiled by Law360 and featured in The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week.” Other notable recent wins include a dismissal of an Illinois biometric data privacy class action, a ruling in California federal court foreclosing the plaintiffs’ class action claims, and a complete disissal of all claims against a website operator based on Section 230 immunity. Outside the courtroom, he has negotiated favorable settlements on behalf of public and private technology companies in a wide range of privacy cases, including data breach and pixel litigation.

Areas of expertise include Section 230 immunity, artificial intelligence, consumer privacy claims, data breach litigation, pixels and other web analytics, the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), the California Medical Information Act, the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and Stored Communications Act (SCA), U.S. CLOUD Act, civil RICO claims, insurance policyholder class actions, and high-stakes coverage disputes. Mr. Yale also has experience handling multi-district mass torts, product liability claims against drug and device manufacturers, securities, contract disputes, government investigations, and appellate matters. He is also a senior editor of Dechert’s Cyber Bits newsletter.

During law school, Mr. Yale was President of the Harvard Business Law Review and a Deputy Managing Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. He was a summer clerk for Justice Thomas R. Lee of the Utah Supreme Court and an intern at the U.S. Attorney's Office, Boston, and at the U.S. Department of Justice Consumer Protection Branch in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Yale has also been recognized by Legal 500 for his work in cyber law. He was previously a member of Dechert's product liability team, which garnered numerous accolades over the past two decades, including Law360's Practice Group of the Year for Product Liability in 2018 and 2019, and New York Law Journal's Litigation Department of the Year for Product Liability in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. 

Technology, Cyber, Privacy, & AI

  • Flo Health, Inc. the developer of the world’s most downloaded mobile health application with over 350 million downloads and 60 million monthly active users, before regulators and in the defense of eight U.S. data privacy class actions and six foreign class actions in Canada, Israel, Spain and Portugal.
  • A global social media technology company in multiple federal and state actions, including class actions, that involve cutting-edge immunity issues under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for allegedly tortious videos created and uploaded by third parties. Obtained a dismissal with prejudice in one case based on Section 230 immunity.
  • Representation of a nationwide network of healthcare clinics in pixel litigation concerning the alleged sharing of sensitive website traffic with third parties.
  • Defending a regional network of healthcare clinics in 22 state and federal class actions following a data breach.
  • Defending one of the world’s biggest technology companies against data breach claims in connection with the largest multidistrict litigation (MDL) in United States history and obtaining a favorable early settlement resolving all claims in nine different federal class actions at once.
  • Advising one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies in connection with online product liability litigation and preemptively reducing risk of class action litigation.
  • Advising a multinational insurance company in responding to threatened litigation and risk mitigation involving the use of website analytic pixels.
  • Prisma Labs, Inc., the maker of the Lensa AI app (No. 1 on the Apple store in December 2022), in dismissal of consumer class action alleging violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA") in N.D. CA in favor of arbitration.
  • Prisma Labs, Inc., the maker of the Lensa AI app, in connection with the defense of a purported consumer class action filed in the N.D. Illinois alleging claims under BIPA.
  • Defending a private equity firm in a nationwide federal class action following a data breach.
  • A nonprofit fundraising website on privacy issues and potential liability for user-generated posts.
  • A private equity firm in the acquisition of websites containing medical information regarding potential liability exposure for civil litigation or regulatory scrutiny.
  • Negotiations between a client and major cryptocurrency platform regarding losses caused by a security breach.
  • A healthcare app developer in connection with a Congressional Oversight Committee investigation.

Product Liability, Mass Torts, Insurance, and Other Litigation

  • Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in class action and individual cases in environmental toxic tort cases and federal appellate litigation.
  • State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance in trial and appellate litigation arising from hurricanes, automobile insurance policy consumer fraud claims, RICO and qui tam litigation.
  • State Farm Fire & Casualty Company in directing legal defense at appellate and trial court levels of numerous property and other claims.
  • A health insurance company in civil RICO litigation against a pharmacy group relating to fraudulent employee health insurance scheme.
  • Purdue Pharma in opioid pharmaceutical mass tort claims in an MDL and by state attorneys general in over 100 federal and state lawsuits brought by state attorneys general, cities, municipalities, hospitals and third-party payors alleging fraudulent marketing practices in connection with the sale of Purdue’s prescription opioid medications.
  • An individual stock trader in a civil forfeiture action relating to alleged market manipulation.
  • Submission of numerous merits and amicus curiae briefs in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Courts of Appeals.
  • A medical device manufacturer in connection with state and federal mass actions relating to allegedly defective hernia mesh implants.
  • A portfolio manager at Allianz in a DOJ and SEC investigation.
  • Advising an international bank on the global reach of U.S. law enforcement investigations into data stored with cloud service providers under ECPA, the SCA, and the U.S. CLOUD Act.
  • Washington Football Team in litigation in federal court in Virginia and Maryland and an NFL arbitration regarding disputes with the minority shareholders.
Services
    • Harvard Law School, J.D., 2017, magna cum laude
    • Princeton University, A.B., 2008, magna cum laude
    • Pennsylvania
    • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
    • English
    • Hebrew

Related News & Insights

Resources relating to Theodore Yale