Zachary R. Lazar

Zach counsels some of the country’s top technology companies and has delivered decisive victories both at trial and in pre-trial practice on bet-the-company litigation. He is a member of the Video Game Bar Association and works with lawyers across the firm to coordinate and enhance representations of video game industry clients. 

Zach maintains an active pro bono practice and co-chairs the Chicago office’s annual fundraiser for the Chicago Bar Foundation’s “Investing in Justice” campaign. Zach’s acumen has been recognized by his peers through his inclusion in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch list every year since the list was created in 2020.

Previously, Zach worked for the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York and several environmental nonprofits. While in law school, he served as a senior staff editor on the New York University Environmental Law Journal and as a teaching assistant for first-year legal writing.

Class Action Defense

• Achieved dismissal on pre-discovery summary judgment, upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, for a putative consumer class action alleging misleading sale advertisements
• Achieved dismissal, upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, for a putative consumer class action alleging misleading pricing practices
• Representing leading ecommerce company in class actions brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act in connection with smart speaker technology and photo recognition technology
• Resolved Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act claims against a cloud-services provider arising from alleged use of biometrics in video game avatars

Mass Arbitration Defense

• Achieved dismissal and partial recovery of costs in mass arbitration against a website operator alleging Fair Credit Reporting Act violations
• Representing multiple video game publishers and developers in threatened mass arbitrations arising from privacy claims
• Representing leading video game publisher in mass arbitration arising from artificial intelligence-powered voice moderation technology

Multi-District Litigation Defense

• Serving as national defense counsel in hundreds of cases brought by individuals alleging harms arising from social media addiction in In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 3047) and Social Media Cases (JCCP 5255)
• Served as national counsel for a pharmaceutical manufacturer in In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation (MDL No. 2804) and in federal and state courts across the country, defending against claims based on allegedly fraudulent promotion of opioids

Other

• Favorably resolved commercial services contract dispute arising from a historic data breach of a credit card processor