Who are the best CIPA defense attorneys? We’ve compiled a list of defense law firms with actual experience defending against California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) claims, including wiretapping claims under Section 631 and pen register / trap and trace claims under Section 638.51.
This list is intentionally selective. Every firm below has either obtained dismissals of CIPA claims for their clients, is actively defending CIPA lawsuits and demand letters, or regularly publishes substantive analysis of CIPA litigation and court decisions. In other words, these firms are demonstrably active in CIPA defense, not just listing “privacy” as a practice area.
Below is our current list of CIPA defense law firms listed in alphabetical order.
We are not endorsing any law firm. When researching a defense attorney, we recommend the rule of three. Research and contact at least 3 law firms and see which one seems like the best fit for your defense. Google reviews are always a strong indicator.
CIPA Defense Law Firms
The table below contains defense law firms along with their primary location of practice and website:
| Law Firm | Location | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Alston & Bird LLP | National | alston.com |
| Baker Donelson | National | bakerdonelson.com |
| Ballard Spahr LLP | National | ballardspahr.com |
| Barnes & Thornburg LLP | National | btlaw.com |
| Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti LLP | Boulder, Colorado | bhgrlaw.com |
| Blank Rome | National | blankrome.com |
| Covington & Burling LLP | National | cov.com |
| DarrowEverett LLP | Providence, Rhode Island | darroweverett.com |
| DTO Law | Los Angeles, California | dtolaw.com |
| Duane Morris LLP | National | duanemorris.com |
| Fisher Phillips LLP | National | fisherphillips.com |
| Foley & Lardner LLP | National | foley.com |
| Glaser Weil LLP | Los Angeles, California | glaserweil.com |
| Holland & Knight | National | hklaw.com |
| Hunton | National | hunton.com |
| Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP | Los Angeles, California | jmbm.com |
| K&L Gates LLP | National | klgates.com |
| KJC Law Group | Los Angeles, California | kjclawgroup.com |
| Klein Moynihan Turco LLP | New York, New York | kleinmoynihan.com |
| Klinedinst PC | San Diego, California | klinedinstlaw.com |
| Kronenberger Rosenfeld, LLP | San Francisco, California | krinternetlaw.com |
| Lathrop GPM LLP | National | lathropgpm.com |
| Leech Tishman | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | leechtishman.com |
| Mayer Brown LLP | National | mayerbrown.com |
| Mintz | National | mintz.com |
| Morrison Cohen LLP | New York, New York | morrisoncohen.com |
| Mullen Coughlin LLC | Devon, Pennsylvania | mullen.law |
| Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP | Los Angeles, California | musickpeeler.com |
| Ogletree Deakins | National | ogletree.com |
| Perkins Coie LLP | National | perkinscoie.com |
| Revision Legal, PLLC | Traverse City, Michigan | revisionlegal.com |
| Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. | National | shb.com |
| Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP | National | shumaker.com |
| Spencer Fane LLP | National | spencerfane.com |
| Squire Patton Boggs | National | squirepattonboggs.com |
| Thompson Hine LLP | National | thompsonhine.com |
| Troutman Amin, LLP | Costa Mesa, California | troutmanamin.com |
| Tucker Ellis LLP | Cleveland, Ohio | tuckerellis.com |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | National | womblebonddickinson.com |
| ZwillGen PLLC | Washington, D.C. | zwillgen.com |
Why These Firms
Here is what put these firms on the list:
- Court-verified dismissals of CIPA claims. Mintz obtained a dismissal with prejudice in Blaker v. NetScout, where the court held CIPA’s pen register provisions apply to telephone communications and not software on a commercial website. Duane Morris, Musick, Peeler & Garrett, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, K&L Gates, Alston & Bird, Mullen Coughlin, Glaser Weil, Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti, Mayer Brown, Holland & Knight, Leech Tishman, and Thompson Hine have all obtained dismissals, favorable summary judgment rulings, or complete walkaways in CIPA lawsuits and arbitrations.
- DTO Law represents Variety Media in the pending California Court of Appeal case that may produce the first appellate ruling on whether CIPA’s pen register provision reaches website tracking technologies. Blank Rome attorneys drafted an amicus brief in that same appeal on behalf of the Retail Litigation Center.
- KJC Law Group went on offense, obtaining a federal court order declaring a high-volume pro se CIPA claimant a vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order.
- Deep demand letter experience with the specific plaintiffs sending CIPA claims in volume. Fisher Phillips, Baker Donelson, Kronenberger Rosenfeld, Morrison Cohen, Klinedinst, DarrowEverett, Ballard Spahr, Foley & Lardner, Womble Bond Dickinson, and Revision Legal all describe active practices responding to CIPA demand letters, arbitrations, and lawsuits, with several naming the repeat claimants and plaintiffs’ firms they have dealt with directly.
- Sustained, substantive publishing on CIPA litigation. Troutman Amin runs CIPAWorld.com, a publication dedicated entirely to CIPA litigation. Klein Moynihan Turco, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell, Covington & Burling, Squire Patton Boggs, Shumaker, Spencer Fane, Barnes & Thornburg, Tucker Ellis, Lathrop GPM, ZwillGen, Perkins Coie, Hunton, and Ogletree Deakins publish ongoing analysis of CIPA decisions, defense strategy, and the pending appellate cases, and several are actively defending CIPA matters in court.
Good Indicators
How should you decide on a defense attorney for your CIPA matter? Here is a list of positive indicators:
- Quick response
- Transparent
- Straightforward
- Success
- Motions to dismiss granted
- Demand letters resolved without litigation
- Lower settlement amounts
- Familiarity with the active plaintiffs’ firms in this space
- Understands the technical side (pixels, cookies, session replay, consent platforms)
- Easy to understand
- Clear primary contact
- Clear attorney’s fees
CIPA Demand Letters and Lawsuits
A CIPA demand letter or lawsuit should always be taken seriously, even if you think it is a scam or a shakedown. Plaintiffs’ firms and pro se claimants are sending these letters and filing these complaints in volume, alleging that everyday website technologies like analytics scripts, advertising pixels, session replay, and chat widgets violate CIPA’s wiretapping and pen register provisions. With claimed statutory damages of $5,000 per violation, the demands can look alarming.
If you have received a demand letter or had a complaint filed against you, we recommend consulting with a defense attorney who is experienced in CIPA litigation specifically. Court decisions in this area are moving quickly, appellate rulings are pending, and outcomes vary significantly by judge and jurisdiction, so recent, direct experience matters.
We can work with your attorney to help supply technical and practical information on the tracking technologies at issue, including how your cookie consent setup actually functions, which is often the factual core of these claims.
The founder of Accessible.org, Kris Rivenburgh, is a licensed attorney but rather than settling cases and defending website owners in court, Kris works to help website owners understand both the technical and legal aspects of website compliance and preventing claims, including configuring cookie consent so tracking is blocked by default until consent is given.
