Randall W. Edwards

Partner

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Randall Edwards focuses his practice in three core areas and, in many cases, where they intersect: privacy and data-security litigation and advice, consumer class-action defense, and complex commercial litigation. He represents clients in courts at the federal and state levels, including in multi-district litigation proceedings. His experience includes class and non-class actions involving privacy issues, data-security breaches, and enforcement of risk-management programs, as well as other pre-litigation disputes and high-stakes litigation spanning from defending companies from consumer-protection challenges to litigating unfair competition, breach-of-contract, and business tort disputes.

Randall counsels clients in numerous sectors, including financial services and payments companies, merchants and product manufacturers, consumer service providers, and technology companies. He holds a CIPP/US certification by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Randall also has extensive experience with matters involving California’s Unfair Competition Law and has lectured and published on the UCL and other topics.

Honors & Awards

  • Recognized as a "Litigation Star" by Benchmark Litigation in Commercial, Class Action, Consumer Protection, and Data Privacy (2023)
  • Recognized by The Legal 500 US in Financial Services Litigation (2013, 2018), Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action - Consumer Products (2015-2017), and Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action - Automotive/Transport (2010-2011, 2015, 2017, 2020-2021)
  • Selected to the National Law Journal’s “Trailblazers - Cybersecurity & Data Privacy” list (2016)
  • Named a Top Rated Class Action & Mass Torts Attorney by Northern California Super Lawyers (2016-18)

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • California

Court Admissions

  • US District Court, Southern, Central, Northern, and Eastern Districts of California, Eastern District of Michigan
  • US Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits

Education

  • Northwestern University, J.D., 1995: cum laude; Associate Articles Editor, Northwestern University Law Review
  • Yale University, B.A., Economics, 1992: cum laude

Professional Activities

Clerkships

  • Honorable Charles E. Wiggins, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speaking Engagements

  • Chair, “California Privacy Law 2022,” Practising Law Institute (October 2022)
  • Chair, “California Privacy Law 2021,” Practising Law Institute (October 2021)
  • Speaker, “Cyber Theft and Data Privacy Risks in the Context of Arbitration, Mediation, and Participant Information,” ACI’s 18th National Forum on ERISA Litigation (November 2020)
  • Chair, “California Privacy Law 2020,” Practising Law Institute (October 2020)
  • Chair, “California Privacy Law 2019,” Practising Law Institute (September 2019)

Author

  • Co-Author, “Voter-Approved Privacy Law Could Mean Big Changes for Big Tech,” PLI Chronicle (December 2020)
  • Represented Ford Motor Company in several multi-million member class-action lawsuits brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law and other consumer protection laws, including two class actions that went to trial and another that settled on the last business day before trial.
  • Represented Visa Inc. in numerous different matters, including class and non-class actions involving merchant and processor data-security breaches and enforcement of risk-management programs, as well as other pre-litigation disputes and litigation involving member banks, merchants, and processors. These disputes have included the most significant data-security breaches in the payments industry.
  • Represented Google Inc. in two privacy class actions in the Northern District of California, one of which has been dismissed and the other recently resolved by settlement. The claims involved included the Wiretap Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, and state-law claims.
  • Represented eBay Inc. in defending multiple class actions, including an antitrust challenge to eBay’s practices and fees with respect to eBay sellers and a challenge to eBay subsidiary Bill Me Later’s practices with respect to certain consumer lending activities.
  • Advised multiple companies regarding privacy practices and data-security breach management issues.
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