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Breach Class Actions & Consumer Claims
Mediation of consumer and multi-plaintiff actions following a data breach — bridging causation, harm, and remediation questions that ordinary settlement talks stall on.
CLASS ACTIONCAUSATIONREMEDIATION
Neutral · Alternative Dispute ResolutionStatus — Available to Mediate
Data Breach
Mediator
The neutral who holds the scales level.
A breach is, at bottom, a violation of the right to be let alone. When that violation hardens into a dispute — insured against carrier, class against enterprise, principal against vendor — resolution turns on the technical facts and on a neutral who can weigh them without favor.
Direct — info@lawandforensics.comCall — +1 (855) 529-2466
The ScalesConfidential
Party A
Claimant
Party B
Respondent
- Neutral
- D. B. Garrie
- Office
- Mediator · ADR
- Privilege
- Rule 408 · Confidential
- Footing
- Forensic + Cyber Law
“The right to be let alone — the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized men.”
20+
Years in Cyber & Data Disputes
100+
Court Appointments as Neutral / Expert
300+
Articles & Publications Authored
Rule 408
Confidential by Privilege
I.What I Mediate
Breach disputes, resolved at the table.
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Cyber-Insurance Coverage Disputes
Neutral resolution of coverage fights between insureds and carriers — scope, exclusions, business-interruption quantum, and the technical facts of the incident that drive them.
COVERAGEEXCLUSIONSQUANTUM
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Vendor, MSP & Supply-Chain Breaches
Allocation of fault and loss when a breach originates with a third-party vendor or service provider — indemnity, contractual security obligations, and shared-responsibility lines.
INDEMNITYTHIRD-PARTYCONTRACT
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Ransomware & Business-Interruption Loss
Disputes over downtime, restoration cost, ransom decisions, and forensic attribution — quantifying loss in terms parties and carriers can actually reconcile.
RANSOMWAREDOWNTIMEATTRIBUTION
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Multi-Party & Regulatory Matters
Coordination of multi-defendant and parallel-regulatory exposure into a single resolution track — managing competing interests without litigating each twice.
MULTI-PARTYREGULATORYCOORDINATION
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Early Neutral Evaluation & Pre-Suit
Pre-litigation evaluation of a breach dispute's technical merits and exposure — a candid, confidential read that resolves matters before they harden into a filing.
PRE-SUITENEEXPOSURE
II.Why Mediate
Why these disputes settle with a neutral.
Breach disputes stall because each side argues past the other on facts neither has fully tested. A mediator who understands the evidence collapses the distance — and protects the candor it takes to close.
Start a conversation →01
A mediator who reads the forensics
The breach facts — logs, timelines, attribution, scope — are not a black box. Settlement positions are weighed against what the evidence will actually bear.
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Sunlight, where the parties need it
Sunlight is the best of disinfectants. Where the dispute is fed by what each side cannot see, the neutral brings the technical record into the light — under seal, and on terms both can trust.
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Confidential as Hermes
Sessions proceed under Rule 408 and the parties' confidentiality agreement. Candor carried in caucus does not become ammunition in the case.
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Fluent on both sides of the table
Insurers, insureds, plaintiffs, vendors, and regulators speak different tongues. A neutral who speaks all of them keeps the conversation moving toward terms.
III.How a Mediation Works
From conflicts check to a signed term sheet.
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Conflicts & Engagement
A conflicts check confirms neutrality. The parties and the mediator align on scope, confidentiality, and the terms of the engagement.
- II
Pre-Session Exchange
Confidential briefs and the key technical record are exchanged. Issues are framed and the true points of disagreement isolated before anyone meets.
- III
Joint & Caucus Sessions
Joint discourse where it helps; private caucus where candor is needed. Positions are weighed against the forensic facts, not merely the pleadings.
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Resolution & Term Sheet
A signed term sheet records the accord. Where a session does not resolve, a focused path and follow-up keep momentum toward settlement.
IV.Representative Matters
A record across contested breaches.
Illustrative matter types — specifics available on request, subject to confidentiality.
Coverage — Cyber PolicyMediator
Mediated a business-interruption coverage dispute between an insured and carrier turning on the forensic scope and timeline of a ransomware event.
Class Action — Consumer DataMediator
Facilitated resolution of a multi-plaintiff data-breach action, bridging disputes over causation, exposure of personal information, and the adequacy of remediation.
Vendor Breach — AllocationNeutral
Allocated loss and indemnity among an enterprise and a third-party service provider following a supply-chain compromise and contested security obligations.
Multi-Party — Parallel ExposureMediator
Coordinated multiple defendants and parallel regulatory exposure into a single confidential resolution track, avoiding duplicative litigation.
V.In Their Words
What counsel and the court say.
Comments from counsel and from courts that have appointed Daniel B. Garrie, drawn from his JAMS profile.
“
His report was a model of clarity—even to a lay person—and demonstrated how extremely conscientious and thorough he had been. The report was directly responsible for the prompt settlement not only of the case immediately before me, but also seven other disputes between the parties.
“Mr. Garrie is one of the few people who understand both the technical and legal issues that arise in disputes. His knowledge of each is at an expert level. This allows for more nuanced mediation and the higher likelihood of finding a compromise.”
“His reputation, brilliance and fairness make him a truly extraordinary forensic neutral. In a bitter, 'scorched earth' trade secret case … the court ordered the imaging of ten of my clients' computers and devices within two weeks under a forensic neutral's supervision. He met the stringent deadlines for the search, scanning, redaction for privilege, and timely delivery of over 70,000 documents. An extraordinary achievement.”
“Thank you for volunteering to share your expertise in mediating e-discovery disputes. The quality of your instruction reflected the depth of both your technical expertise in electronic discovery and your facilitative expertise as a mediator.”
“I can't tell you enough how grateful I am that we picked you as our mediator and how lucky we are to have settled all things now being considered.”
VI.The Neutral
The one who holds the scales.
Daniel B. Garrie, Esq.
Data Breach Mediator · ADR Neutral
- Affiliation
- JAMS · Law & Forensics LLC
- Education
- J.D. Rutgers · B.A./M.A. C.S. Brandeis
- Bar
- New York · Washington · U.S. Sup. Ct.
- Forums
- Federal · State · Private ADR
- Tongues
- Forensic → Plain
Daniel B. Garrie is a neutral, arbitrator, and court-appointed Special Master for data-breach and cyber-incident disputes, drawing on two decades as a forensic expert, court-appointed neutral, and authority on cyber law. He has sat at the table with insurers, insureds, plaintiffs, enterprises, and their vendors.
He has served as a forensic neutral and special master in matters across state and federal courts — including as eDiscovery Special Master in In re: Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation — and has resolved cyber-insurance coverage fights, breach class actions, ransomware losses, and vendor disputes as a mediator and arbitrator. His practice rests on a rare footing: command of the forensic record that drives breach disputes — a J.D. from Rutgers and a B.A. and M.A. in Computer Science from Brandeis — paired with the ability to translate it into terms every party, and the carrier behind them, can act upon.
Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants. — L. D. Brandeis, the spirit in which the record is brought to light
Sessions
Joint & caucus
Posture
All parties
Panel
JAMS Neutral
Authored
300+ works · 6 books
VII.Insights
From the record — writing on breach disputes.
Original commentary on cyber-incident disputes, drawn from the bench and the table.
AI & ADR
The Hallucination Tax: AI Citations and Arbitral Efficiency
When fabricated citations enter a submission, they impose a hidden surcharge on every party and quietly conscript the neutral into the role of fact-checker.
7 min read →EvidenceAuthenticating AI and Deepfake Evidence Under FRE 901
How a forensic neutral tests AI-generated and deepfake exhibits in breach disputes, and why Rule 901's modest standard still governs even as the cost of meeting it climbs.
7 min read →AI & ADRJAMS AI Rules: Taming Discovery in Cyber Disputes
How the JAMS AI Dispute Resolution Rules let a technically fluent neutral govern AI evidence and contain discovery in data-breach arbitrations and mediations.
7 min read →VIII.Common Questions
What parties ask before the first session.
- What is data-breach mediation?
- Data-breach mediation is a confidential, voluntary process in which a neutral third party helps the parties to a cyber-incident dispute — an insured and its carrier, a class and an enterprise, a principal and its vendor — reach a resolution without a trial. The neutral weighs settlement positions against the forensic record and helps the parties close the distance between them.
- What kinds of cyber disputes can be mediated?
- Common matters include data-breach class actions and consumer claims, cyber-insurance coverage disputes, vendor and supply-chain breach allocations, ransomware and business-interruption loss, and multi-party or parallel-regulatory exposure. Early neutral evaluation and pre-suit assessment are also available.
- Is mediation confidential?
- Yes. Sessions proceed under Federal Rule of Evidence 408 and the parties' confidentiality agreement. Candor shared in caucus is not admissible as evidence and does not become ammunition in the underlying case.
- Why use a mediator who understands the forensics?
- Breach disputes stall because each side argues past the other on technical facts neither has fully tested — logs, timelines, attribution, and scope. A neutral who can read the forensic record weighs positions against what the evidence will actually bear, which collapses the distance and protects the candor it takes to settle.
- How do I start a mediation?
- Send the matter name, the parties and roles, the jurisdiction or forum, the nature of the dispute, and any key dates. A conflicts check and a confidential scoping call follow — without obligation. Chambers, counsel, and carriers are all welcome to inquire.
Initiate a Mediation
Bring the dispute before the scales.
Send the matter, the parties, and the key dates. A conflicts check and a confidential scoping call follow — without obligation. Chambers, counsel, and carriers are all welcome to inquire.