Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy Announces Ninth Circuit Dismisses Appeal Allowing Historic Settlement to be Distributed to Apple iPhone Consumers Impacted by Software Throttling
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, Co-Lead Counsel representing Apple customers, announced that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal challenging the historic agreement with Apple Inc. to settle a nationwide class action based on allegations that Apple issued software updates that slowed down the performance of iPhones. Under the settlement, Apple agreed to pay a minimum of $310 million and up to $500 million in cash compensation.
The class action was filed back in 2018. In 2019, the Court ruled on Apple’s motion to dismiss and allowed several claims in the litigation to move forward, including violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, California’s Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, and Trespass to Chattels.
After years of litigation, the team at CPM, along with co-lead counsel, Kaplan Fox, successfully negotiated the settlement – the largest all-cash recovery in a computer intrusion case in history – on behalf of a class of approximately 100 million iPhone users.
Mark C. Molumphy, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP said: “The settlement is the result of years of investigation and hotly contested litigation. We are extremely proud that this deal has been approved, and following the Ninth Circuit’s order, we can finally provide immediate cash payments to impacted Apple customers.”
Tyson C. Redenbarger, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP said: “This was an important case, lying at the intersection of privacy, consumer product, and computer intrusion laws. The settlement provides substantial relief to Apple consumers and, going forward, will help ensure that customers are fully informed when asked to update their products.”
The case is In re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation, Case No. 5:18-md-02827-EJD (N.D.Cal).