At the urging of Ropes & Gray, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit today vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s order against LabMD, which arose from the first ever FTC adjudication that a company’s data security practices are “unfair” under the FTC Act. The court ruled that the FTC’s order is unenforceable because, rather than enjoining a specific act or practice, it mandates a complete overhaul of LabMD’s data security program and says little about how this is to be accomplished, effectively charging a district court with managing the overhaul. The decision will have significant implications for data security regulatory enforcement and litigation.
The Ropes & Gray team representing LabMD included partner Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, who received critical support from healthcare partner Debbie Gersh.
The 11th Circuit’s opinion is available here.
Mr. Meal was named “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer on June 8 for his team’s work on this matter.
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