Quoted

October 9th, 2025

States Turn to Outside Firms to Generate Big Privacy Settlements

Holly A. Melton is quoted in the Bloomberg Law article on the growing practice of state attorneys general hiring outside counsel for litigation in data privacy and online safety cases. The article noted this shift boosts companies’ risk profiles, with smaller states taking on more complex cases. “‘One, don’t ignore the states that don’t necessarily have privacy laws because you’re not safe’ said Holly Melton, partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. ‘And two, the sort of posture has already kind of ratcheted up when they come in with outside counsel who’s sort of running the show.’”

Bloomberg Law stated this strategy is getting mixed results. Some states point out that they could not bring certain cases without the staffing, resources and expertise of the private firms. But critics question outside counsels’ driving state priorities—selecting enforcement for big payouts or settlements, more akin to civil plaintiff litigation instead of traditional AG litigation that prioritizes companies changing their behavior. The full article on the update on litigiation in data privacy and online safety here.