Cindy Hanson focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and class action defense. A significant portion of Ms. Hanson's practice is devoted to the defense of class actions. She has been a member of several teams that have filed Petitions for Permission to Appeal under Fed. Rule of Civ. Proc. 23(f) in the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits. She was part of the team that prepared the Fed. Rule of Civ. Proc. 23(f) Petition to the Seventh Circuit in Blair v. Equifax Check Services, 181 F.3d 832 (7th Cir. 1999). The Blair decision is the first reported decision on the standard that a court should use when deciding whether or not to accept a Petition for Permission to Appeal under Rule 23(f). This standard, while slightly modified by some circuits, has remained the basis by which Rule 23(f) petitions are reviewed. In addition, Ms. Hanson has handled hundreds of matters under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Her practice includes the representation of consumer reporting agencies, entities who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies and employers who use background checks for employment purposes. Prior to joining the firm, she practiced at a New York firm for four years. Ms. Hanson has made presentations on class actions, and all aspects of compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. She was named as a 2008 and 2009 Georgia "Rising Star" in the areas of Class Action/Mass Torts and Civil Litigation Defense by SuperLawyers magazine and is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Professional & Community Activities Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Member Experience White et al. v. Experian Information Solutions Inc., et al., Represents Equifax in this putative class action filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The plaintiffs alleged that Equifax, TransUnion and Experian violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to accurately report consumers' debts that were discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. Plaintiffs sought the certification of a nationwide class, money damages and injunctive relief. The case was actively litigated for nearly three years. In January 2009, the court issued a tentative decision denying plaintiffs' motion for Class Certification. The case settled shortly thereafter. The court granted final approval of the parties' settlement in July 2011.
White v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., No. 05-CV-01070 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 2, 2005). White v. Imperial Adjustment Corp. et al., The firm served as lead counsel for Equifax, one of the United States' largest credit reporting agencies, in this putative class action. The plaintiff primarily sought the certification of a class numbering in excess of 50,000 consumers alleging Equifax violated the FCRA with respect to the issuance of credit reports for insurance purposes. Class certification was argued on three occasions in front of two district court judges. The court certified a class of only 125 consumers. The case was thereafter favorably settled prior to trial, including an 88% reduction of plaintiff's requested attorneys' fee.
White v. Imperial Adjustment Corp., Imperial Fire and Casualty Company, Equifax Inc. and Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc., No. 99-3804, 2005 WL 1578810 (E.D. La. June 28, 2005). CSC Credit Services Inc. v. Equifax Inc., The firm served as lead counsel for Equifax Inc., one of the United States' largest credit reporting agencies, in a suit brought by Equifax's largest affiliate, CSC Credit Services Inc. Equifax's motion for summary judgment was granted and the holding was affirmed on appeal.
CSC Credit Servs., Inc. v. Equifax Inc., 119 Fed. Appx. 610, 2004 WL 2980777 (5th Cir. 2004). Premium Mortgage Corp. v. Equifax Information Services, et al., Served as counsel to Equifax. The plaintiff, a mortgage broker, alleged that a subsidiary of Equifax Inc. misappropriated trade secrets belonging to it and other mortgage brokers around the country. The plaintiff sought certification of a nationwide class. The court granted Equifax's motion to dismiss on preemption grounds, and the decision was affirmed by Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Premium Mortgage Corp. v. Equifax Info. Sys., et al., No. 07-6349 (W.D.N.Y.). Robbie Hillis et al. v. Equifax Consumer Services Inc., et al., Represented Equifax in this putative class action filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The plaintiff alleged that several of Equifax's consumer products violated the Credit Repair Organizations Act and sought the certification of a nationwide class. The court denied plaintiff's motion for Class Certification and the case was subsequently settled on terms favorable to Equifax and the other defendant.
Robbie Hillis v. Equifax Consumer Servs., Inc., et al., No.1:04-CV-3400-BBM (N.D. Ga.). William A. Harris, Sr. v. Equifax Information Services LLC and Byerson v. Equifax Information Services LLC, Represented Equifax in these putative class actions asserting claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The plaintiff sought to certify a nationwide class consisting of consumers holding Capital One credit cards, alleging that Equifax and other credit reporting agencies violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by allegedly substituting consumers' "high balance" for their "credit limits" when reporting consumers' Capital One accounts. The matter was actively litigated for over two years. In June 2009, the court granted Equifax's Motion for Summary Judgment on all of Plaintiff's claims. No appeal was taken.
William A. Harris, Sr. v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, No. 06-01810 (D.S.C. filed June 15, 2006) and Byerson v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, No. 06-582 (E.D. Va.). Washington v. CSC Credit Servs. Inc., Equifax Inc., Equifax Credit Info. Servs. Inc., The firm served as lead counsel for Equifax Inc., one of the United States' largest credit reporting agencies, in a class action lawsuit. Prior to the firm's involvement, the plaintiffs successfully obtained certification of a class with an estimated membership of approximately 10 million consumers in the district court. The firm drafted the request for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). This request was accepted by the Fifth Circuit. The firm presented briefing and oral argument on behalf of Equifax in the Fifth Circuit. In January 2000, the Fifth Circuit unanimously reversed the district court's decision and decertified the class. In addition, the court held that there was no private right of action for injunctive relief under the FCRA, an issue that had not been previously addressed by any appellate court. The
Washington decision has been favorably cited approximately 50 times and is considered the seminal decision on this issue. Upon remand to the district court, the firm obtained summary judgment with respect to one of the plaintiffs and the other five plaintiffs thereafter dismissed their claims.
Washington v. CSC Credit Servs., Inc., et al., 199 F.3d 263 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 530 U.S. 1261 (2000). Defended copyright challenge of Google's Book Search project, The firm served as lead counsel for Google Inc., in defending copyright infringement lawsuits brought by the Author's Guild, et al., and separately by McGraw-Hill and four other large New York publishers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleged that Google's "Book Search" project (involving the scanning of books in the libraries at Michigan, Harvard, Stanford, The New York Public Library and Oxford University) infringes the copyrights of millions of authors and publishers. The litigation has been described as the most important copyright dispute in the last 50 years. A potential settlement that will allow Google to continue to work with its library partners to scan public domain and in-copyright books from their collections is being considered by the court.
The Authors Guild v. Google Inc., No. 1:05-cv-08136 (S.D.N.Y. filed Sept. 20, 2005). Smith v. Delta Air Lines Inc., Represents Delta Air Lines and its directors and officers in the defense of a putative ERISA class action stock drop case pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and related claims in the bankruptcy case of Delta Air Lines, Inc. pending in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York. Case pending. *Experience gained by attorney prior to joining Kilpatrick Townsend Publications 01 February 2012, The Domino's Effect: How Following the Letter of the FCRA Could Save your Business from a Litigation Chain Reaction, Legal Alerts 28 April 2011, Supreme Court Upholds Class Action Waivers In AT&T v. Concepcion, Legal Alerts 04 April 2011, Federal court sanctions the EEOC, ordering it to pay more than $750,000 in attorneys fees to a private employer, Legal Alerts 22 February 2011, California Supreme Court Opens the Floodgates to Zip Code Class Actions, Legal Alerts 03 February 2011, Telephone Consumer Protection Act Text Message Class Action Alert, Legal Alerts 17 September 2010, Recent Surge in Class Actions Filed Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Legal Alerts 24 December 2009, You Wanna Background Check Me? Well, Be Careful Where You Look...
Source: Corporate Counsel, Articles 01 December 2009, What Every Company Should Know and Do About Employee Background Checks
Source: Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, Other Publications 24 September 2009, On Compliance: If You Furnish Data to the Credit Bureaus... Regulations effective July 1, 2010 are intended to improve the accuracy of information provided
Source: CUES, Articles 25 August 2009, Good News For Opponents of Class Certification
Source: Law 360, Articles 24 July 2009, Federal Agencies Enact Regulations Regarding the Furnishing of Information to Consumer Reporting Agencies and the Handling of Direct Consumer Disputes, Legal Alerts 01 February 2008, Issue Spotlight: A Look at Creative Notice Procedures in Rule 23(b) (3) Class Actions
Source: ABA Litigation Newsletter, Other Publications 10 September 2007, "Eleventh Circuit Holds Waiver of Class Action in Arbitration Clause Is Unconscionable and Unenforcable", Legal Alerts 10 September 2007, Eleventh Circuit Holds Waiver of Class Action in Arbitration Clause is Unconscionable and Unenforceable, Legal Alerts 01 January 2007, Settling the Class Action
Source: ICLE 2007 Class Actions Materials, Articles 01 January 2006, Recent Developments Under the Class Action Fairness Act
Source: ICLE 2006 Class Actions Materials, Articles 01 January 1993, Degree of Capacity Required to Create an Inter Vivos Trust
Source: Trusts and Estates, Articles News 23 January 2012, Kilpatrick Townsend's Cindy Hanson: Featured Speaker at National Conference on Consumer Finance Class Actions & Litigation, News Releases 17 February 2010, Kilpatrick Stockton's Cindy Hanson to Serve as Featured Speaker at PLI's 15th Annual Consumer Financial Services Conference, News Releases 02 March 2009, Kilpatrick Stockton Attorneys Named 2009 Georgia "Rising Stars" by Georgia Super Lawyers, News Releases Events 09 September 2011, What Evidence, Expert or Otherwise, Is Now Required for Class Certification, Events 23 August 2011, Pre-Employment Background Screening: Legal Pitfalls - Crafting Policies to Comply With Title VII, Fair Credit Reporting Act and State Laws, Events 27 April 2011, Use of Background Checks in Employment Decisions and Compliance With The FCRA, Events 23 February 2011, What Sting is Justice: How Use of Criminal and Credit History Brings Employers Future Liability, Events 21 December 2010, Pre-employment Credit Checks under Heightened Scrutiny: Complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Title VII and State Laws, Events 10 September 2010, Daubert or Daubert Lite? What Criteria Are Courts Applying at Class Certification?, Events 16 June 2010, Rule 23 (f) Class Certification Appeals: Strategies for Pursuing or Opposing Appellate Review in the Absence of Clear Standards, Events 23 March 2010, New Accuracy and Integrity Regulations Enacted Under FCRA Will Impact Virtually Every Bank - Are You Ready?, Events 19 February 2010, Bankruptcy Related Issues & Credit Reporting and Collection Issues, Events 03 October 2008, How to Handle Offers of Judgment, Class Action Waivers and Arbitration Clauses, Events 12 October 2007, Settling the Class Actions, Events |