EXHIBIT A

Case: 1:20-cv-04699 Document #: 28-1 Filed: 09/08/20 Page 1 of 10 PageID #:272
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS 

EASTERN DIVISION

IN RE: TIKTOK, INC., 

CONSUMER PRIVACY 

LITIGATION

 

 

 

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MDL No. 2948 

Master Docket No. 20 C 4699 

Judge John Z. Lee 

Magistrate Judge Sunil R. Harjani

 

DECLARATION OF JAMES B. ZOURAS IN SUPPORT OF APPLICATION TO SERVE 

AS A MEMBER OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE 

Under penalties as provided by law pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, the undersigned certifies 

that the statements set forth in this instrument are true and correct: 

1. As counsel for Plaintiff H.S., a minor, through her guardian, J.S., I submit this Declaration 

in support of my application to serve as a member of the Steering Committee, pursuant to Case 

Management Order No. 2, ECF No. 24. I make these statements based on personal knowledge 

and if called to testify, I could and would competently testify consistently with all matters set forth 

herein. 

2. I am a member in good standing of the Illinois State Bar and one of the two founders and 

principals of the Chicago-based law firm of Stephan Zouras, LLP. After graduating from DePaul 

University College of Law, where I was ranked in the top 10% of my class and served as Editor 

of the Law Review, I was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1995. Following a one-year judicial 

clerkship, I have worked my entire professional career as a plaintiffs’ trial lawyer and class action 

litigator. 

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3. For approximately 24 years, I have been admitted to the Trial Bar of the of the United 

States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and have been admitted or admitted pro 

hac vice to various federal and state courts throughout the United States for the purpose of 

prosecuting class and collective actions, including the Central District of Illinois, the Southern and 

Eastern Districts of New York, the Superior Court for the State of California, the Eastern District 

of Missouri, the District of Maryland, the Southern District of Ohio, the Northern, Middle and 

Southern Districts of Florida, the District of Massachusetts, the Eastern District of Michigan, the 

District of New Jersey, the District of Minnesota, the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, the 

Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Western District of Washington, the Southern and Northern 

Districts of Iowa, the Western District of North Carolina, the District of Arizona, and the District 

of New Mexico. I have also argued before various federal and state appellate courts as lead 

appellate counsel on at least 14 occasions and served as lead trial counsel on at least 12 major civil 

jury trials which have gone to verdict. I am also a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the 

United States. 

4. Since 2002, my practice has been highly concentrated in representing employees in cases 

arising under federal and state wage and hour laws, and other statutes, including the Fair Labor 

Standards Act (FLSA), the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL) and comparable state wage and 

hour laws, and other statutes, across the United States. The vast majority of these cases proceeded 

as class and/or collective actions. Since early 2017, my firm and I have also concentrated on 

representing plaintiffs in class actions arising under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act 

(“BIPA”). 

5. I am frequently invited as a speaker at seminars on class actions, employment litigation, 

and trial practice with national and local organizations such as the Illinois Trial Lawyers 

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Association (ITLA). Most recently, in May 2020, I spoke at a seminar sponsored by the Illinois 

Institute for Continuing Legal Education on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting workers, 

including issues related to BIPA. I have also testified before committees of the Illinois Senate and 

Illinois House of Representatives on issues relating to plaintiff’s rights, including arbitration 

agreements, which are directly at issue in this case. 

6. The accomplishments of Stephan Zouras, LLP are set forth in the Firm Resume attached 

as Exhibit 1. As described therein, Stephan Zouras, LLP, has extensive experience in successfully 

representing plaintiffs as lead counsel in hundreds of class actions nationwide. Since founding our 

firm in 2007, I, along with my partner Ryan Stephan, have secured a significant number of seven 

and eight-figure jury verdicts and settlements on behalf of aggrieved employees and victims of 

corporate negligence and abuse. Both of us have been named an Illinois class action “Super 

Lawyer” in every consecutive year since 2009. As recently observed by Judge Matthew F. 

Kennelly, “[Stephan Zouras] have substantial class action experience, and they have secured multimillion dollar class recoveries in the past.” Bhattacharya v. Capgemini North America, Inc., 324 

F.R.D. 353, 363 (N.D. Ill. 2018). 

7. Our firm has nine attorneys, seven of whom, along with extensive support staff, are 

committed to the firm’s dedicated BIPA practice. We anticipate adding at least one more attorney 

to our staff in the next six months. 

8. In early 2017, my firm filed one of the first BIPA class actions in the employment context. 

Doporcyk v. Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc. and Kronos, Inc., 17-CH-08092 (Cook Cty. Cir. Ct. Jun. 

09, 2017). Since then, Stephan Zouras has filed and is actively prosecuting over 150 BIPA class 

actions in federal and state court, in both employment and consumer context. As a result of 

extensive discovery practice in these actions, including depositions of defendants and their 

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representatives, our firm is well-versed on biometric technology, including how biometric 

information is collected, maintained and disseminated, particularly as it relates to the requirements 

of BIPA. The firm has also retained consultants to assist with our investigation and understanding 

of biometric technology and the defenses asserted by Defendants, including experts to review 

source code, evaluate network and device configurations, analyze network traffic, and test various 

hardware and software (mobile, desktop, server, embedded devices, web applications, etc.) to 

determine functionality as well as uncover potential security and privacy issues. Stephan Zouras, 

LLP is uniquely experienced and qualified to handle any difficult technological questions that 

arise. 

9. Stephan Zouras, LLP actively tracks all BIPA filings in federal and state court, including 

the 750+ BIPA actions currently pending, and stores any significant rulings and settlements 

generated in these cases in a dedicated database maintained by our firm. As a result, our firm 

possesses a vast repository of knowledge and information on BIPA-related litigation, which we 

routinely share with members of the plaintiffs’ bar who are actively prosecuting BIPA cases. 

10. Our firm’s BIPA advocacy has included substantial legislative efforts to prevent the law 

from being curtailed through amendments or repealed outright, as advocated by the Chamber of 

Commerce and many other corporate interest groups which are spending incredible sums trying to 

gut the law in Springfield. 

11. Stephan Zouras, LLP is actively engaged, on a daily basis, with extensive court, discovery 

and motion practice on their BIPA actions. The firm has secured at least 30 favorable decisions1

for plaintiffs, many on issues of first impression, at both the appellate and trial court levels on 

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 Because of their voluminous nature, copies of these decisions are not included as exhibits but are readily 

available upon request. 

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novel issues and defenses asserted under BIPA, including that BIPA claims are not subject to 

arbitration as “wage and hour” claims, Liu v. Four Seasons Hotel, Ltd., 2019 IL App (1st) 182645, 

the Constitutionality of BIPA, Bruhn v. New Albertson’s, 2018-CH-01737 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty. Jan. 

30, 2020) (J. Loftus) (Exhibit 2),2 the inapplicability of BIPA’s “HIPAA exemption” to employees, 

e.g., Bruhn v. New Albertson’s Inc., et al., No. 18-CH-01737 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty. July 2, 2019) (J. 

Loftus) (Exhibit 3), and most recently, the first federal decision on when BIPA claims accrue; 

specifically, that an aggrieved plaintiff’s claims accrue each time an entity collects or disseminates 

biometric information without securing prior informed consent and a release. Cothron v. White 

Castle System, Inc., 2020 WL 4569694 (Aug. 7, 2020) (J. Tharp). Also, my firm secured the first 

decision holding that the statute of limitations under BIPA is five years, rather than one or two 

years. Robertson v. Hostmark Hospitality Grp., et al., No. 18-CH-05194 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty. July 

31, 2019) (J. Cohen) (Exhibit 4). We are currently defending the ruling of another trial court, 

which held consistent with Roberston on the statute of limitations question, at the Illinois Appellate 

Court, which is expected to be the first appellate court decision on this critical issue. See Tims v. 

Black Horse Carriers, No. 1-20-0563 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist.). 

12. Courts have appointed me and Stephan Zouras, LLP as class counsel in dozens of BIPA 

cases. For example, I was appointed, in contested proceedings, as co-lead interim class counsel in 

the two largest BIPA class actions filed on behalf of employees, including one before this court. 

See Exhibit 5, September 19, 2019 order in Figueroa, et al v. Kronos Incorporated, 19 cv 1306 

(N.D.Ill.) (J. Feinerman); Exhibit 6, November 19, 2019 order in Henderson, et al. v. ADP, LLC, 

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 In Bruhn, the trial court recently granted the defendant’s request to certify the Constitutional question for 

interlocutory appeal. If accepted for review, Stephan Zouras, LLP will defend the Constitutionality of 

BIPA on this issue of first impression before the Illinois Appellate Court. 

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18 CH 7139 (Circuit Court of Cook County) (J. Atkins). Both actions, which are comprised of 

several hundred thousand putative class members, are being actively litigated by my firm. 

13. My firm and I have achieved, and continue to achieve, outstanding and benchmark-setting 

results for class wide settlements in 11 finally-approved BIPA cases, which have resulted in actual 

monetary recoveries for almost 22,000 individuals and counting. See, e.g., Exhibit 7, August 20, 

2019 order in Dixon v. The Wash. & Jane Smith Home, et al., 17-cv-08033 (N.D. Ill.) (J. Kennelly) 

(approving BIPA settlement awarding $1,000 per class member); Exhibit 8, May 12, 2020 order 

in Jackson v. A. Finkl & Sons, Co., 2018-CH-07424 (Circuit Court of Cook County) (J. Tailor) 

(approving BIPA settlement awarding $1,180 per class member); Exhibit 9, November 13, 2019 

order in Watts v. Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hosp., LLC, No. 17-CH-12756 (Circuit Court of 

Cook County) (J. Reilly) (approving BIPA settlement awarding $1,000 per class member); Exhibit 

10, November 18, 2019 order in Edmond v. DPI Specialty Foods, Inc., et al., 2018-CH-09573 

(Circuit Court Cook County) (J. Tailor) (approving BIPA settlement awarding $1,000 per class 

member); Exhibit 11, June 2, 2020 order in Goings v. AEP NVH OPCO, LLC d/b/a Applied 

Acoustics, et al., 2017-CH-14954 (Circuit Court Cook County) (J. Tailor) (approving BIPA 

settlement awarding $1,200 per class member); Exhibit 12, August 14, 2020 order in Kane v. 

Conservation Technology of Illinois, LLC d/b/a Con-Tech Lighting, et al., 2018-CH-12194 

(Circuit Court Cook County) (J. Reilly) (approving BIPA settlement awarding $1,200 per class 

member). Excluding a handful of cases where we verified that the defendant lacked the financial 

ability to pay full value, the average payout is nearly $900.00 per-person and as a result of our 

efforts, is trending up. In almost every case, we have insisted on a settlement structure that 

distributes funds via direct checks to the class members without a claims structure, which means 

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every one of these nearly 22,000 individuals received a check without the need to submit a claim 

form. 

14. From the beginning of BIPA litigation, I and my firm have established and maintained 

regular contact and collaborative working relationships with the limited number of mostly-Illinois 

plaintiffs’ attorneys with practices focused on BIPA actions, including proposed lead counsel 

Katrina Carroll, so the cases could be monitored, coordinated and advanced in the best interests of 

all aggrieved class members. Even before the onset of BIPA litigation, I and my firm had 

established collegial and working relationships with many of these firms and attorneys. Virtually 

every firm was receptive and has been working collaboratively on BIPA litigation. These efforts 

have succeeded in identifying and developing underlying legal theories, strategies and responses 

to the various defenses asserted in BIPA cases. In addition to helping to ensure the efficient and 

effective prosecution of BIPA cases, these steps have enabled us to continue to improve outcomes 

for BIPA plaintiffs. The firm’s litigation approach, which I and Ryan have instilled in our 

attorneys and other legal staff since we founded Stephan Zouras, LLP in 2007, has not gone 

unnoticed by the judiciary. For example, just three weeks ago, Judge Jeffrey Cole stated, “I would 

be remiss if I failed to note not only the extremely capable written presentations on behalf of the 

parties, but also to note the cooperative and collegial efforts of all counsel in the case. The plaintiff 

was represented by Ryan Stephan and Haley Jenkins of Stephan Zouras LLP in Chicago. ... They 

displayed an extraordinary measure of excellence and courtesy that is unfortunately all too rare in 

today's fractious and overly competitive atmosphere. They brought conspicuous skills to this case, 

and their conduct is proof that lawyers can act civilly and courteously in their dealings with each 

other without sacrificing in the slightest the obligations they owe to their clients.” Bello v. The 

Parc at Joliet, LLC, 18 cv 8196 (Aug. 18, 2020) (Exhibit 13). 

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15. Our investigation into TikTok’s collection of biometric information and potential BIPA 

violations began in January 2020. Among other things, this investigation included enlisting the 

services of individuals in both China and Taiwan to download and examine the Chinese equivalent 

of TikTok, Douyin, which is also owned by Defendant Bytedance, to compare the functionality 

and features of the two applications, including their use of filters and facial landmarks, and to 

determine the extent to which user biometric information, such as voiceprints and facial 

recognition, is shared between the two entities and the parent company (and third parties) – a 

critical determination to establish Section 15(d) claims under BIPA. See 740 ILCS 14/15(d). 

16. Prior to and immediately upon filing this action, we brought our firm’s expertise and 

experience to bare, working with the attorneys Settling Plaintiffs are nominating for Co-Lead 

Counsel and other leadership positions, who themselves are well-respected members of the 

plaintiffs’ bar, to thoroughly investigate and advance the class’s claims. In addition to our 

collaborative work with these plaintiffs’ attorneys to help formulate strategy, our firm took the 

lead in drafting the amended consolidated complaint, written discovery and preservation letter 

propounded on Defendants. Our unique expertise also helped inform preparation for the mediation 

and the draft term sheet, with special emphasis on the realistic range on the value of the BIPA 

claims given the liability posture, and the need for non-monetary relief and confirmatory 

discovery. 

17. Stephan Zouras, LLP has dedicated—and will continue to dedicate—substantial resources 

to investigating the facts underlying this action, and developing the legal bases for liability. This 

investigation is informed by our unparalleled experience in BIPA litigation, and has included (1) 

ongoing investigation of defendants’ practices, including expert consultation; (2) detailed 

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examination of the technology implicated in this action, and (3) substantial factual and legal 

research—and development of the law in the area—to determine how best to prosecute the case. 

18. Stephan Zouras, LLP has the financial resources necessary to prosecute this case, has stood 

ready, and remains able and willing to advance necessary expenses and devote significant attorney 

time from our roster of highly-qualified attorneys and staff to all aspects of this case. 

19. Should the Court appoint me to the Steering Committee, I am fully prepared and committed 

to continue devoting, to the fullest extent of my ability, all the time, expertise and other resources 

necessary to assist Lead Counsel in their efforts to represent the interests of the class. 

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. 

Dated: September 8, 2020 FURTHER DECLARANT SAYETH NOT. 

 /s/ James B. Zouras 

 James B. Zouras 

 STEPHAN ZOURAS, LLP 

 100 North Riverside Plaza, Suite 2150 

 Chicago, Illinois 60606 

 (312) 233-1550 

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