John Yanchunis Named Co-Lead Counsel in Home Depot Data Breach Case

Morgan & Morgan is pleased to announce that John A. Yanchunis has been appointed as Co-Lead Counsel in the Home Depot data breach litigation. As one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history, it is estimated that hackers obtained 56 million credit and debit card numbers that customers used at the home improvement retailer between April and September 2014.

Nearly three dozen lawsuits are currently pending in the Home Depot data breach multidistrict litigation (MDL), which was formed in December 2014 when the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated all federally filed cases to the Northern District of Georgia. Consumers and financial institutions filed the suits after Home Depot confirmed that hackers installed malware in the company’s point-of-sale systems at locations throughout the country and put millions at risk for fraudulent charges and identity theft.

Last week, the Honorable Judge Thomas W. Thrash released an order appointing attorneys to a number of leadership roles in the data breach MDL, including Morgan & Morgan’s John Yanchunis as Co-Lead Counsel for the consumer plaintiffs.

“I feel honored that the Court would entrust in me the responsibility of leading an excellent team of lawyers in the representation of a class of consumers whose privacy rights were violated by Home Depot,” Yanchunis said.

In one of the largest data breach class actions the courts have ever seen, Yanchunis will work alongside four other attorneys as Co-Lead Counsel. Together they will be responsible for coordinating all pre-trial proceedings, including discovery. Among other duties, the team will consult with experts, draft briefs, argue motions and coordinate any settlement discussions.

In the lawsuits, the plaintiffs allege that Home Depot failed to adequately protect customers’ personal information and are seeking compensation for any fraudulent charges they incurred as a result of the data breach.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs are seeking better protection for customers who use their credit or debit cards at Home Depot locations in the future.

“We seek to require that Home Depot implement procedures and a system to protect the privacy of consumers and the information provided by consumers when they apply for its credit cards, as well as when it makes consumer purchases at its stores around the country,” Yanchunis said.