DiCello Levitt’s Amy E. Keller Named Co-Lead Counsel in Marriott Data Breach Multidistrict Litigation
Keller, Just 35 Years-Old, Was Also Named Co-Lead Counsel in Equifax MDL Last Year
CHICAGO, April 30, 2019 – DiCello Levitt partner, Amy E. Keller, has been appointed Consumer Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel in the ongoing data breach multidistrict litigation against Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR). The MDL stems from the failure of Marriott, parent company of Starwood Hotels, to ensure that the personal information of as many as 300 million customers was adequately protected, leading to a massive data breach that may have lasted more than four years. Marriott became the world’s largest hotel chain when it completed an acquisition of Starwood in 2016.
Keller’s latest MDL leadership position comes on the heels of her appointment last year as Co-Lead Counsel in the consolidated litigation against Equifax that resulted from the credit reporting firm’s ineffective handling of a data security breach that exposed the Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and other personal information of nearly 150 million American consumers. She is joined as Co-Lead Counsel in the Marriott MDL by Andrew N. Friedman of Cohen Milstein and James J. Pizzirusso of Hausfeld.
In a rare move, Judge Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, announced his decision yesterday from the bench at the conclusion of the leadership hearing. Typically, judges wait days or weeks to announce their lead counsel appointments.
“I am honored and humbled by Judge Grimm’s order appointing me to represent the interests of consumers in this nationwide case against Marriott,” Keller said. “It’s disappointing that the company did not discover the data breach for over four years—resulting in the disclosure of confidential and sensitive information of millions of consumers. We hope that, through this litigation, the company decides to make right by its consumers and provide adequate and reasonable relief for the harm caused.”
Keller, who at just 34 years-old became one of the youngest attorneys ever named to co-lead a major, national consumer MDL, helped launch national plaintiffs’ firm, DiCello Levitt, in April 2017, along with Co-Founding Partners Adam Levitt and Mark DiCello. Named a SuperLawyers “Rising Star” since 2016, Keller has litigated a wide range of consumer protection, product liability, design defect, employment, and food labeling cases in courts across the United States.
The case is Marriott Int’l, Inc., Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig., No. 19-md-2879 in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
About DiCello Levitt
DiCello Levitt combines excellence in commercial litigation, class action litigation, mass tort litigation, catastrophic injury litigation, medical malpractice litigation, and civil rights litigation. Practicing nationwide—and internationally—from offices in Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and St. Louis, we are an aggressive, attentive, and creative plaintiffs’ firm whose work speaks for itself—billions of dollars in recoveries in some of the highest-profile matters in U.S. history. Revered by clients and respected by defense counsel, our team gets results.