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Tim J. St. George

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Tim defends institutions nationwide facing class actions and individual lawsuits. He has particular experience litigating consumer class actions, including industry-leading expertise in cases arising under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its state law counterparts, as well as litigation arising from data breaches.

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Reprinted with permission from the February 9, 2026 edition of The Legal Intelligencer. © 2026 ALM Global Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited. For permission to reprint or license this article, please contact 877-256-2472 or asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com.

Investigations led by counsel, triggered by legal risk, and designed to elicit legal advice remain protected, even if their findings later inform business decisions. For cyber incidents, FirstEnergy outlines how to structure IR investigations to maximize privilege and work product protection while supporting an effective technical and business response.

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Key point: Courts are concluding that not all data breaches should result in a lawsuit. Businesses need to consider causation and damages when responding to an incident and take steps to determine if there is no evidence of harm or traceability including on a class wide basis.