Portland Business Journal | By Andy Giegerich | September 18, 2017
Michael Fuller was born to take on Equifax Inc.
That is, when the credit monitoring giant admitted it exposed the information of 143 million consumers earlier this summer (it revealed the breach on Sept. 7), Fuller, a partner with Portland’s Olsen Daines PC, wasted no time in filing a class action negligence case.
That’s because Fuller is a self-acknowledged “underdog lawyer.”
The complaint, filed on behalf of Portlander Mary McHill and Eugene resident Brook Reinhard, charges that Equifax “undertook care of credit and personal information belonging to plaintiffs and the Oregon putative class, then breached its legal duty by failing to maintain adequate technological safeguards, falling below the standard of care in the technological industry, directly and proximately causing foreseeable risk of data loss and credit harm and identity theft and other economic losses, in amounts to be decided by the jury.”
Fuller cites a $68.5 billion figure, or the approximate cost for 143 million consumers to pay for credit monitoring and repair for the next two years, as a “the amount in controversy.” The class could also receive damages that exceed that figure.
Fuller says the case is the largest class action in U.S. History. Celebrity attorney Mark Geragos — he’s represented Michael Jackson and Winona Ryder—is Fuller’s co-counsel on the case.
Even if consumers don’t receive remuneration, matters could get sticky for the credit monitor: Criminal charges could be filed against two Equifax executives who allegedly sold stock between the period in which the data breach was discovered and when the company revealed it publicly.
We caught up with Fuller, whose website promises a plethora of transparency and even quotes an hourly rate, for an email interview about the Equifax case and about his no-nonsense practice.
How did you become interested in the Equifax case? Did McHill and Reinhard reach out to you?
Consumer protection is my life’s work, so I had hundreds of people reach out to me for advice as soon as news of the breach broke last Thursday. We ultimately agreed to represent one consumer from the Portland area and one consumer from the Eugene area as class representatives.
What sort of response have you had to this? Are others contacting you to join the class?
We’ve literally received thousands and thousands of emails, tweets, and voicemails from folks across the country asking to join the class action.
Talk about your practice in general. Your site spells out the types of cases you’ve worked on. How did you get started in this area?
I was held back in the first grade and expelled from middle school. I was raised in a trailer park by a single mom in Hillsboro and am the first in my family to go to college. I went to law school so I could eventually represent the little guy against large corporations.
I really shouldn’t be here right now. I promised myself that if I ever passed the bar, I’d work day and night fighting to take the power back. I passed the bar in 2009 and have worked as a consumer protection lawyer ever since.
Is “underdog lawyering” a growing niche?
Yes. The deregulation of Wall Street has turned our firm into a de facto consumer watchdog group.
Your price per hour, of $410, is on your website. Is that part of a credo to be transparent or immediately up front with your clients?
I don’t bill consumers by the hour — most of my clients can’t afford lawyers anyway. (The figure) is the hourly rate large corporations must ultimately pay for my time if they don’t do the right thing.
Is “not being afraid to take on the big guys” (like Equifax) the defining part of your whole practice?
Absolutely. I eat, sleep and s— litigation. I don’t watch sports or take vacations. There’s honestly nothing I’d rather do with my time than hold large corporations legally accountable. Winning for my clients is all I think about 24/7.
