Jane Doe 1 v. Jamie S. Schwartz, 2:25-cv-00898

This case is a consolidated data breach class action against Dr. Jaime S. Schwartz, a plastic surgeon accused of failing to secure patients’ sensitive personal and medical data, which was then accessed and used for extortion by hackers.
Plaintiff groups (represented by two attorney slates) seek appointment as interim class counsel prior to class certification, following the consolidation of several related cases in the Central District of California.
Two main attorney slates are competing: Boucher LLP with Robinson Markevitch & Parker LLP (Boucher/RMP) and Raina Borrelli of Strauss Borrelli PLLC with Alreen Haeggquist of Haeggquist & Eck, LLP (Borrelli/Haeggquist).
Both attorney slates claim they are best positioned to lead due to their investigatory work, experience, and sensitivity to the needs of the proposed class.
The court’s tentative ruling weighs work performed to date, class action and relevant litigation experience, knowledge of law, resources, and diversity of representation, while also addressing accusations of uncooperativeness between the slates.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Who should be appointed interim class counsel?	Boucher/RMP: Did earlier, deeper investigation and filed first; more local/class action experience. Borrelli/Haeggquist: Unique experience in medical data breach cases; greater diversity.	Borrelli/Haeggquist contest "first to file" rationale, stressing subject-matter expertise and diversity; also note their own substantive contributions.	Both slates qualified. Court may create its own slate, drawing from both, and will further assess willingness to cooperate at hearing.
Sufficiency of investigatory work	Boucher/RMP: Substantially more work, earliest and comprehensive investigation.	Borrelli/Haeggquist: Also performed meaningful investigation, expanded scope of defendants/claims.	Favors Boucher/RMP for earlier, more extensive work, but both contributed.
Experience relevant to class action/data breach	Borrelli has unique, direct medical data breach experience; Haeggquist offers trauma-informed approach.	Boucher/RMP: Significant class action and relevant sensitive information case experience; more local counsel.	Both highly qualified, with complementary strengths. Court sees both as capable.
Diversity of representation	Borrelli/Haeggquist stress importance as women/LGBTQ/minority-led firms.	Boucher/RMP claim sufficient diversity within their team.	Slightly favors Borrelli/Haeggquist, but not dispositive on its own.

In re Air Cargo Shipping Servs. Antitrust Litig., 240 F.R.D. 56 (E.D.N.Y. 2006) (designation of interim class counsel encouraged in overlapping, duplicative class actions for efficient management)
White v. TransUnion, LLC, 239 F.R.D. 681 (C.D. Cal. 2006) (interim counsel appointment protects member interests in duplicative class actions)
Outten v. Wilmington Tr. Corp., 281 F.R.D. 193 (D. Del. 2012) (emphasizing experience and knowledge as paramount for lead counsel)
In re Ring LLC Priv. Litig., 2020 WL 9763065 (C.D. Cal. 2020) (court may create its own interim counsel slate)