In re: PowerSchool Holdings, Inc., and PowerSchool Group, LLC Customer Data Security Breach Litigation

Summary

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation orders the centralization of litigation arising from the PowerSchool customer data security breach. The Panel transfers the listed actions to the Southern District of California and assigns them to Judge Roger T. Benitez for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1407.

Holdings

1. The actions involved common questions of fact concerning the PowerSchool cybersecurity incident, its security practices, and its breach notifications, making centralization appropriate.
2. Informal coordination was not the most efficient method for resolving the litigation because the parties had not provided comparable assurance that potential § 1404 transfers would be uncontested.
3. The Southern District of California was an appropriate transferee district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the related data-breach actions involve common questions of fact warranting centralization under 28 U.S.C. § 1407.
2. Whether centralization in the Southern District of California would serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation.
3. Whether informal coordination or transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1404 would be a more efficient alternative to multidistrict centralization.

Disposition

other