Benjamin F. Johns

Benjamin F. Johns, a co-founding partner at Shub & Johns LLC, is a consumer protection advocate with nearly two decades of litigation experience. He is admitted to practice in all of the state and federal courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and has personally argued in the Third Circuit, the D.C. Circuit, PA Supreme Court, and PA Commonwealth Court. Over the course of his career, Mr. Johns has taken and defended hundreds of depositions, argued and won dispositive motions (including contested motions for class certification), and been appointed to leadership positions by various courts across the country. He was recently described by the legal publication Law360 as being a “data breach specialist.” He was the lead litigator at his prior firm in a case against Apple which resulted in a $50 million settlement and was the No. 1 ranked Consumer Fraud settlement in California for 2022 by TopVerdict.com.

Mr. Johns is currently serving as court appointed interim co-lead counsel in several consumer data breach class actions, including:

• Nelson v. Connexin Software Inc. d/b/a Office Practicum, No. 2:22-cv-04676-JDW (E.D. Pa.);
• In re NCB Management Services, Inc. Data Breach Litig., No. 2:23-cv-1236-KNS (E.D. Pa.);
• In re Onix Group, LLC Data Breach Litig. No. 23-2288-KSM (E.D. Pa.);
• In re CorrectCare Data Breach Litig., No. 5:22-319-DCR (E.D. Ky.);
• In re Community Health Systems, Inc. Data Sec. Litig., No. 3:23-cv-00285 (M.D. Tenn.);
• In re R&B Corporation of Virginia d/b/a Credit Control Corporation, Data Security Breach Litig., No. 4:23-CV-66 (E.D. Va.);
• Salinas et al. v. Southwest Louisiana Hospital Association, d/b/a Lake Charles Memorial Health System, No. 20213-0090 D (La. J. D. Ct.);
• In re Wawa, Inc. Data Sec. Litig., No. 19-6019 (E.D. Pa.);
• In re Hope Coll. Data Sec. Breach Litig., No. 1:22-CV-01224-PLM (W.D. Mich.); and
• Guarnaschelli et al. v. East River Medical Imaging, P.C., Index No. 656099/2023 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.).

Over the course of his career, Mr. Johns has provided substantial assistance in the prosecution of the following cases:

• In re Macbook Keyboard Litig., No. 5:18-cv-02813-EJD (N.D. Cal.) (Mr. Johns took and defended numerous depositions and successfully argued two motions to dismiss and co-argued plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in this widely-covered case against Apple which ultimately settled for a $50 million common fund. In granting final approval to the settlement, the district court wrote that plaintiffs’ counsel “achieved excellent results for the class.”)
  
  
• Kostka v. Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc., No. 3:20-CV-03424-K (N.D. Tex.) (Mr. Johns served as co-lead counsel in this consumer data breach case which resulted in a $2.35 million common fund settlement).
  
  
• Udeen v. Subaru of Am., Inc., No. 18-17334 (RBK/JS) (D.N.J.) (Mr. Johns was co-lead counsel in this consumer class action involving allegedly defective infotainment systems in certain Subaru automobiles, which resulted a settlement valued at $6.25 million. At the hearing granting final approval of the settlement, the district court commented that the plaintiffs’ team “are very skilled and very efficient lawyers…They’ve done a nice job.”)
  
  
• Breneman v. Keystone Health, Case No. 2023-618 (Pa. Ct. Com. Pl.) (Mr. Johns was co-lead counsel in this medical data breach class action which resulted in a $900,000 common fund settlement).
• In re Nexus 6P Product Liability Litig., No. 5:17-cv-02185-BLF (N.D. Cal.) (Mr. Johns served as co-lead counsel – and argued two of the motions to dismiss – in this defective smartphone class action.  The case resulted in a settlement valued at $9.75 million, which Judge Beth Labson Freeman described as “substantial” and an “excellent resolution of the case.”)
  
  
• In re MyFord Touch Consumer Litig., No. 13-cv-03072-EMC (N.D. Cal.) (Mr. Johns served as court-appointed co-lead counsel in this consumer class action concerning allegedly defective MyFord Touch infotainment systems, which settled for $17 million shortly before trial.)
  
  
• Weeks v. Google LLC, 5:18-cv-00801-NC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 215943, at *8-9 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 13, 2019) (Mr. Johns was co-lead counsel – and successfully argued against a motion to dismiss – in this defective smartphone class action. A $7.25 million settlement was reached, which Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins described as being an “excellent result.”)
  
  
• Gordon v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 17-cv-01415-CMA-SKC (D. Colo.) (Mr. Johns served as co-lead counsel of behalf of a class of millions of cardholders who were impacted by a data breach at Chipotle restaurants. After largely defeating a motion to dismiss filed by Chipotle, the case resulted in a favorable settlement for affected consumers. At the final approval of the settlement, the district court noted that class counsel has “extensive experience in class action litigation, and are very familiar with claims, remedies, and defenses at issue in this case.”)
  
  
• Hughes v. UGI Storage Co., 263 A.3d 1144 (Pa. 2021) (Mr. Johns argued this precedent-setting de facto takings matter before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in October of 2021, which resulted in a 6-0 reversal of the underlying Commonwealth Court decision that had affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the case);
  
  
• Bray et al. v. GameStop Corp., 1:17-cv-01365-JEJ (D. Del.) (Mr. Johns served as co-lead counsel for consumers affected by a data breach at GameStop. After largely defeating a motion to dismiss, the case was resolved on favorable terms that provided significant relief to GameStop customers. At the final approval hearing, the District Judge found the settlement to be “so comprehensive that really there’s nothing else that I need developed further,” that “the settlement is fair,” “reasonable,” and “that under the circumstances it is good for the members of the class under the circumstances of the claim.”)
  
  
• In re: Elk Cross Timbers Decking Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litig., No. 15-cv-18-JLL-JAD (D.N.J.) (Mr. Johns served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in this MDL proceeding, which involved allegedly defective wood-composite decking, and which ultimately resulted in a $20 million settlement.)

• In re Checking Account Overdraft Litig., No. 1:09-MD-02036-JLK (S.D. Fla.) (Mr. Johns was actively involved in these Multidistrict Litigation proceedings, which involve allegations that dozens of banks reorder and manipulate the posting order of debit transactions.  Settlements collectively in excess of $1 billion were reached with several banks.  Mr. Johns was actively involved in prosecuting the actions against U.S. Bank ($55 million settlement) and Comerica Bank ($14.5 million settlement).)

• Physicians of Winter Haven LLC, d/b/a Day Surgery Center v. STERIS Corporation, No. 1:10-cv-00264-CAB (N.D. Ohio) (Mr. Johns was the primary associate working on this case which resulted in a $20 million settlement on behalf of hospitals and surgery centers that purchased a sterilization device that allegedly did not receive the required pre-sale authorization from the FDA.)

• West v. ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc., No. 14-cv-22950-UU (S.D. Fla.) (Mr. Johns was co-lead counsel in this case which resulted in a $2.1 million settlement on behalf of July 2014 bar exam applicants in several states who paid to use software for the written portion of the exam which allegedly failed to function properly)

• Henderson v. Volvo Cars of North America, LLC, No. 2:09-cv-04146-CCC-JAD (D. N.J.) (provided substantial assistance in this consumer automobile case that settled after the plaintiffs prevailed, in large part, on a motion to dismiss)

• In re Marine Hose Antitrust Litig., No. 08-MDL-1888 (S.D. Fla.) (settlements totaling nearly $32 million on behalf of purchasers of marine hose.)

• In re Philips/Magnavox Television Litig., No. 2:09-cv-03072-CCC-JAD (D. N.J.)  (settlement in excess of $4 million on behalf of consumers whose flat screen televisions failed due to an alleged design defect. Mr. Johns argued against one of the motions to dismiss.)

• Allison, et al. v. The GEO Group, No. 2:08-cv-467-JD (E.D. Pa.), and Kurian v. County of Lancaster, No. 2:07-cv-03482-PD (E.D. Pa.) (settlements totaling $5.4 million in two civil rights class action lawsuits involving allegedly unconstitutional strip searches at prisons)

Mr. Johns was elected by fellow members of the Philadelphia Bar Association to serve a three-year term on the Executive Committee of the organization’s Young Lawyers Division. He also served on the Editorial Board of the Philadelphia Bar Reporter and the Board of Directors for the Dickinson School of Law Alumni Society. Mr. Johns has been published in the Philadelphia Lawyer magazine and the Philadelphia Bar Reporter.  While in college, Mr. Johns was on the varsity basketball team and spent a semester studying abroad in Osaka, Japan. He graduated from Harriton High School in 1998 as the then all-time leading scorer in the history of the boys’ basketball program. Ben has been named a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer, a “Top 40 Under 40” attorney by The National Trial Lawyers, and a Pennsylvania “Rising Star”/”Super Lawyer.”