Cohen Cleary, P.C. Hit with Class Action Over September 2022 Data Breach

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Cohen Cleary, P.C. is to blame for a data breach purportedly discovered in September 2022.

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The 30-page lawsuit says that the Massachusetts-based law firm detected unauthorized access to its network servers on September 30 last year. The suit relays that the personal information of at least 12,478 adults and children was compromised in the breach, including, but not limited to, names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, medical information and health insurance details.

According to the case, the “massive and preventable cyberattack” was a direct result of the firm’s failure to implement sufficient data security practices to safeguard consumers’ sensitive information, which the law firm allegedly stored in its systems unencrypted and unprotected.

In addition, though the firm claims to have discovered the unauthorized access in late September, it did not begin notifying victims of the data breach until the end of November, the complaint shares. The notices themselves, the filing adds, provided only “basic details” about the incident and did not disclose when and for how long the cybercriminals had access to the data.

The lawsuit claims that victims are still “in the dark” with regard to how the hackers infiltrated Cohen Cleary’s network, what precise information was stolen and what action is being taken to safeguard their data in the future.

The plaintiff, a Massachusetts resident, received notice from the law firm on November 23 informing her that her personal information had been compromised in the breach, the suit says. Like other victims, the woman now faces a lifelong risk of fraud and identity theft as a result of the defendant's negligence, the case charges.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose personal information was exposed to unauthorized third parties as a result of the Cohen Cleary, P.C. data breach discovered on September 30, 2022.

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