Melissa Siebert

Chair, Emerging Data Privacy Trends

Recent News:

Cozen O’Connor Attorney Melisssa Siebert Named among Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 Notable Leaders in Law

Melissa Siebert, co-founder and chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Emerging Data Privacy Trends practice, has been named to Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 list of Notable Leaders in Accounting, Consulting & Law.

Melissa is the chair of Cozen O'Connor's Emerging Data Privacy Trends practice. She and her team represent clients nationwide in privacy and data-related class actions, “mass” and individual arbitrations, and individual litigation in federal and state courts, including cases involving Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA), the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and claims involving pixels, cookies, and website analytics, as well as the recent surge in “trap and trace” litigation. The team is at the forefront of defending litigation based on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and currently are defending several AI-based class actions. Melissa and her team also provide significant privacy-related compliance counseling and regulatory advice. Clients appreciate her ability to anticipate privacy-related data privacy litigation trends, and to develop creative and aggressive strategies to address them. She is a frequent and sought-after speaker on data privacy litigation, BIPA reform, and developing trends. 

Melissa's experience handling BIPA cases has made her one of the leading lawyers in the rapidly developing area of biometric privacy litigation. She has argued and won some of the most significant BIPA appeals to date, garnering defense victories before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. These landmark wins are recognized as laying the groundwork for one of the few clear paths to victory for BIPA defendants.  

Prior to joining the firm, Melissa was a partner at an Am Law 200 firm, where she chaired the Biometric Privacy practice, overseeing a team of legal professionals and a caseload of over 150 BIPA class actions pending in federal and state courts.

Melissa earned her B.A. from Bucknell University and her J.D. and M.B.A. from Northwestern University. 

Experience

News

Cozen O’Connor Attorney Melisssa Siebert Named among Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 Notable Leaders in Law

September 11, 2024

Melissa Siebert, co-founder and chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Emerging Data Privacy Trends practice, has been named to Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 list of Notable Leaders in Accounting, Consulting & Law.

Nearly 100 Cozen O’Connor Lawyers, 27 Practices Earn Top Recognition in Chambers USA 2024 Guide

June 10, 2024

Chambers USA rankings are based on an “assessment of a firm’s work and opinions from external market sources, with an emphasis on client feedback.” In order to be ranked in the guide, lawyers and firms must demonstrate “sustained excellence.”

Cozen O’Connor Adds Two of the Country’s Leading Data Privacy Litigators to its Commercial Litigation Practice Group

March 06, 2023

Melissa A. Siebert and Erin Bolan Hines — data privacy litigators with renowned track records of successfully defending employers and technology enterprises entangled in major data privacy class actions and appellate cases — to its award-winning Commercial Litigation Practice Group.

Illinois Biometric Privacy Cases To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2021

July 08, 2021

Melissa Siebert was quoted in a Law360 article discussing the biometric privacy litigation in Illinois that could be significantly altered due to pending state and federal cases considering the timing of claims under the state's landmark statute.

Lawmakers Looking at Changing Illinois Biometric Privacy Law

April 13, 2021

Melissa Siebert was quoted in a Washington Examiner article discussing the significant increase of BIPA lawsuits after an Illinois Supreme Court ruling which stated that a plaintiff may follow a lawsuit under BIPA without proving they were monetarily harmed.

Publications

Illinois BIPA Reform 2024 – Back Where We Started or Moving Forward? [Alert]

April 19, 2024

Erin Bolan Hines and Melissa Siebert discuss the Illinois Senate passing the first significant BIPA amendment (SB 2979) and how it may affect ongoing litigation.

A Big Win For BIPA's Health Care Exclusion [Alert]

December 01, 2023

Erin Bolan Hines and Melissa Siebert discuss the Illinois Supreme Court in Mosby v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, et al., and Mazya v. Northwestern Memorial Health.

BIPA Reform Bill Introduced in Illinois Senate [Alert]

May 19, 2023

On Friday, May 19, the Illinois Senate submitted a BIPA reform bill as part of HB3811.

Education

  • Northwestern University School of Law, J.D., 1992
  • Northwestern University - Kellogg Graduate School of Management , M.B.A., 2000
  • Bucknell University, B.A., 1989

Awards & Honors

Chambers & Partners USA: Privacy & Data Security: Litigation, 2024

Crain’s Chicago Business, Notable Leaders in Accounting, Consulting & Law, 2024

Law360 Cybersecurity & Privacy Group of the Year, 2022

  • Illinois
  • U.S. District Court -- Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court -- Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court -- Southern District of Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court