Author: Bailey Glasser

BG Lawyers Named to 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers List

Ten Bailey Glasser lawyers were named to this year’s list.

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Bailey Glasser partners Brian A. Glasser, John W. Barrett, Katherine E. Charonko, Joshua I. Hammack, James L. Kauffman, Patricia Mulvoy Kipnis, Jonathan R. Marshall, D. Todd Mathews, Michael L. Murphy, and David L. Selby II were named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers list.

As Lawdragon stated in announcing the 2026 list:

This is the 8th edition of our guide to the lawyers who will fight for you when life delivers its harshest blows. They are the advocates who can win the medical care, insurance benefits and other compensation that can help to compensate for tragedy . . . .They and their fellow honorees inspire us, reminding us there are professionals who will fight for you when all seems lost. Who will take a stand against abuse, and seek changes that create a better future.

Learn more about their important work by following this link.

Partner Tad Duree Speaking About Litigation Funding on ABA CLE Webinar

This CLE is taking place on April 5, 2026, from 1-2 p.m. ET.

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Bailey Glasser litigator Tad Duree is presenting at an American Bar Association CLE entitled: “Third Party Litigation Funding: Opportunities, Risks, and Ethical Guardrails.” The program is taking place on Thursday, April 5, 2026, at 1 p.m. ET.

Program description: “The program will cover jurisdictional variations on champerty and fee-sharing rules, how traditional loans and contingent arrangements differ in practice, best practices for client notice and consent, confidentiality and privilege concerns, and when disclosure to courts or opposing parties may be required. Participants will leave with an understanding of concrete contract provisions, client communication templates, and a checklist for vetting funders and funding terms.”

To learn more and to register, visit this link.

BG Named Law360 “Legal Lion of the Week” for Appeal Led by Joshua Hammack

This case will have significant implications for how streaming services and other platforms handle user data, and will affect the privacy rights of millions of Americans consumers.

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Bailey & Glasser, LLP, has been named a Law360 “Legal Lion of the Week” for the appellate work spearheaded by partner Joshua I. Hammack. Last week, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Salazar v. Paramount Global, a hotly litigated case about the meaning of “consumer” under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).

As described by Law360:

Bailey & Glasser LLP roared after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider what criteria consumers must meet to sue under the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, accepting a challenge to a ruling that said a Paramount digital newsletter subscriber could not bring a lawsuit. The justices granted Michael Salazar’s petition for a writ of certiorari asking the high court to determine whether the VPPA applies to consumers who subscribe to nonaudiovisual content, such as a digital newsletter. In a proposed class action, Salazar, who subscribed to a digital newsletter from Paramount Global’s 24/7 Sports, alleged illegal sharing of subscribers’ personal information with Facebook. Salazar is represented by Joshua Hammack of Bailey & Glasser.

To read the full Law360 article visit this link.

Partner Joshua I. Hammack led the appellate team, with valuable assistance from Michael L. Murphy, Nicholas S. Johnson, Allison A. Bruff, and Hallie H. Arena, as well as paralegal support from Manny Rios. The matter will now proceed to merits briefing and argument before the Supreme Court.

The VPPA was enacted in 1988, shortly after a local D.C. video store disclosed the rental records of Judge Robert Bork—who was then under consideration for a seat on the Supreme Court—to a journalist. The law broadly prohibits a video tape service provider from knowingly disclosing a consumer’s personally identifiable information without first obtaining that consumer’s consent. As most relevant here, the VPPA defines “consumer” to include a “subscriber of goods or services from a video tape service provider.” In this case, Paramount disclosed Mr. Salazar’s Facebook ID (a unique numerical identifier Facebook assigns to each user) and video-watching history to Facebook without his consent. Mr. Salazar sued, alleging Paramount’s conduct violated the VPPA. But both lower courts held Mr. Salazar was not a statutory “consumer” because he subscribed only to Paramount’s online newsletter, and not to its audiovisual goods or services. As a result, both lower courts dismissed his VPPA claim. Now the Supreme Court will decide the question.

This case will have significant implications for how streaming services and other platforms handle user data. And it will almost certainly affect the privacy rights of millions of American consumers.

Learn more about the case and appeal here.

Samira Z. Bode Elevated to Partner

Ms. Bode is a member of Bailey Glasser’s nationally recognized and ranked Mass Torts Practice Group, where she focuses her practice on representing former minors abused in juvenile hall facilities. This is challenging work which she approaches with immense tenacity and deep compassion.

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Bailey & Glasser, LLP is proud to announce that litigator Samira Z. Bode has been elevated to partner.

Ms. Bode is a member of Bailey Glasser’s nationally recognized and ranked Mass Torts Practice Group, where she focuses her practice on representing former minors abused in juvenile hall facilities in Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. This is challenging work which she approaches with not only immense tenacity, but deep compassion.

Samira also represented servicemembers in the 3M Combat Arms Earplugs litigation, the largest multi-district litigation in history which settled in 2023 for $6 billion. Additionally, Samira’s experience includes litigating mass tort cases injured by defective medical devices and dangerous pharmaceutical drugs.

Ms. Bode’s important work was recognized by Lawdragon when it named her a 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation in the mass tort and product liability category, and she has been included in the Super Lawyers list in Illinois since 2024. Bailey Glasser’s Mass Torts Practice Group is nationally ranked by Chambers & Partners in the nationwide Product Liability: Plaintiffs category and by Best Law Firms® on the top National Tier in the Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs. Ms. Bode is located in our firm’s Maryville, Illinois office.

A joint statement issued by Contingency Practice Area Leader Jonathan R. Marshall, Mass Torts Practice Group Leader David L. Selby II, and partner D. Todd Mathews states:

We warmly welcome Samira Z. Bode to our partner ranks at Bailey & Glasser, LLP. She has proven time and time again that she will fight to protect and find justice for our clients, no matter if she is facing a multinational corporate conglomerate or the legal arm of an entire state. To that end, her elevation to partner is well-deserved and we congratulate her on this career milestone.

Learn more about the firm’s fight to find justice for victims of abuse in Maryland juvenile hall facilities at this link.

Partner Josh Hammack Quoted by Reuters in Supreme Court VPPA Article

“The VPPA is a throwback to an era when a trip to Blockbuster to rent ‘Dirty Dancing’ or ‘Die Hard’ was (in the vernacular of the day) totally rad.”

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Bailey Glasser partner Joshua I. Hammack was quoted by Reuters in a commentary piece by journalist Jenna Greene about the Supreme Court’s granting certiorari in Salazar v. Paramount Global, our hotly litigated case about the meaning of “consumer” under the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).

As described in the article, the VPPA is “a throwback to an era when a trip to Blockbuster to rent ‘Dirty Dancing’ or ‘Die Hard’ was (in the vernacular of the day) totally rad. But the implications of the dispute are anything but retro.”

The VPPA was enacted in 1988 after a local D.C. video store disclosed the rental records of Judge Robert Bork—then under consideration for a seat on the Supreme Court—to a journalist. The law broadly prohibits a video tape service provider from knowingly disclosing a consumer’s personally identifiable information without first obtaining that consumer’s consent. As most relevant here, the VPPA defines “consumer” to include a “subscriber of goods or services from a video tape service provider.”

In this case, Paramount disclosed Mr. Salazar’s Facebook ID (a unique numerical identifier Facebook assigns to each user) and video-watching history to Facebook without his consent. Mr. Salazar sued, alleging Paramount’s conduct violated the VPPA. But both lower courts held Mr. Salazar was not a statutory “consumer” because he subscribed only to Paramount’s online newsletter, and not to its audiovisual goods or services. As a result, both lower courts dismissed his VPPA claim. Now, the Supreme Court will decide whether Mr. Salazar’s case can move forward.

Bailey Glasser’s appellate team has been litigating this question across the country for years, including Hammack arguing the issue to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Sixth, and D.C. Circuits. The case now before the Supreme Court will have significant implications for how streaming services and other platforms handle user data, and it will almost certainly affect the privacy rights of millions of Americans consumers.

For more details and to read the full Reuters article, visit this link.