Home Depot Gets Nailed with $7.5 Million in Legal Fees In Data Breach Class Action

Written by: Tiffany Winks, Esq.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016, a Federal Judge in Atlanta awarded a whopping $7.5 million in legal fees to consumers’ lawyers in a lawsuit against Home Depot for its 2014 data breach.  Not only did the Court award these substantial attorney’s fees, but it also tipped its hat to the lawyers for taking the risk to litigate a data breach case, as the law is extremely cutting-edge. This massive slam against Home Depot comes only months after it entered a settlement agreement in March 2016 to create a $13 million dollar settlement fund to reimburse consumers.  This outcome will undoubtedly encourage more class action lawsuits, and should be a cautionary tale to companies to get ahead of emerging data breach threats to avoid similar harsh penalties.