Jillian R. Dent

Jillian Dent represents individuals in consumer, privacy, and products class-action litigation. As a former corporate defense attorney and judicial law clerk, she brings a well-rounded litigation acumen to her cases; clients benefit from her ability to assess cases from multiple perspectives in order to develop and pursue the best strategic courses of action.

Among her recent results:

• Jillian successfully briefed and argued against two motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in class actions brought on behalf of dairy farmers in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri and the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota; achieving denials of both motions such that the international, foreign defendants were subjected to discovery. She then led fact discovery in both cases before the cases resulted in favorable settlements for the classes.
• Jillian successfully argued then defended on appeal, compelling the production of a post-data breach forensic investigation report, in a major data breach case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia which was held by both the Magistrate Judge and the District Court Judge to not qualify for work product protection.
• Jillian successfully briefed and argued multiple motions to compel in a large data breach case, which pertained to a wide variety of discovery issues, including more novel issues such as the bank examination privilege. Over the course of a ten-month fact discovery period, she led the search term and custodian negotiations on behalf of plaintiffs with both defendants, managed a large-scale review and was part of the team that took more than 40 depositions – all of which were taken remotely due to COVID-19.

Prior to joining Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, Jillian served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Duane Benton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit – an experience which provided her with an inside look at how appellate decisions are made and what arguments prove most persuasive on appeal.

Jillian then served as a litigation associate at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, where she represented sophisticated clients in complex litigation, including matters involving breach of contract, business torts, breach of fiduciary duty and securities class actions. During her time at Sidley Austin, Jillian honed her skills at all stages of litigation, from dispositive motions to preparation for trial.  She is experienced in discovery, and has managed large-scale document productions, written and defended against numerous motions to compel, and handled depositions, including deposing an executive and employees at a Fortune 500 company and second-chairing the two-day deposition of a Fortune 500 CEO. She also maintained an active pro bono practice, representing two clients as part of Sidley’s Capital Litigation Project.

Before her time as an attorney, Jillian was a high-school teacher in Kansas City, Missouri with Teach for America; she taught 10th, 11th and 12th grade English, AP Literature, theatre arts, and creative and critical writing. She credits her experience in the classroom for her ability to think on her feet, to break down complex issues, and to craft persuasive and engaging arguments.

Jillian enjoys spending time with her husband, toddler, family and friends, and is looking forward to welcoming a daughter to her family soon.

News

Experience

Representative Cases

Bishop et al. v. DeLaval Inc. (Western District of Missouri): Jillian was the case manager and led the discovery and briefing efforts in a class-action lawsuit against DeLaval Inc. on behalf of dairy farmers who purchased and were dissatisfied with DeLaval’s voluntarily milking system robots. The lawsuit alleged that the robots were defective and failed to perform as represented. In January 2020, the Court denied defendants’ motions to dismiss, as well as defendants’ motion to strike class allegations. Jillian was the primary author of the opposition to the international defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and successfully argued plaintiffs’ opposition before the Court. See Bishop v. DeLaval Inc., No. 5:19-CV-06129-SRB, 2020 WL 4668755 (W.D. Mo. Jan. 28, 2020). Jillian led the charge of fact discovery, negotiating discovery disputes, taking depositions, and arguing discovery disputes to the Court. The case settled for $55 million and was issued final approval in July 2022.

In re: Capital One Consumer Data Security Breach Litigation (Eastern District of Virginia): Jillian was the case manager and primarily in charge of discovery efforts for the litigation stemming from the data breach Capital One announced in July 2019. She was also one of the primary drafters of SSH’s first complaint filed in July 2019, as well as the representative complaint filed in March 2020 after Norman Siegel was appointed as co-lead counsel. Jillian then led many facets of fact discovery, including briefing and arguing a number of motions to compel, negotiating custodians and search terms with both defendants, drafting and serving multiple rounds of discovery, managing a large-scale document review, and taking multiple depositions and seconding many more as part of a team that took over 40 depositions.

Of note, Jillian successfully briefed and argued plaintiffs’ motion to compel the post-data breach forensic investigation report, which had been withheld on the basis of work product. She then successfully defended the Magistrate Judge’s ruling that the report did not qualify for work product protection when the defendant objected under Rule 72. See In re Capital One Consumer Data Sec. Breach Litig., No. 1:19MD2915 (AJT/JFA), 2020 WL 2731238, at *7 (E.D. Va. May 26, 2020), aff'd, No. 1:19MD2915 (AJT/JFA), 2020 WL 3470261 (E.D. Va. June 25, 2020). The case was settled for $190 million and issued final approval in September 2022.

Kruger et al. v. Lely North America et al. (District of Minnesota): Jillian was the case manager and led discovery and briefing efforts in a class-action lawsuit against Lely North America. Inc. on behalf of dairy farmers who purchased and were dissatisfied with Lely’s Astronaut A4 robotic milker, which Plaintiff has alleged was defective. Jillian successfully briefed and argued against the international defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, which was denied in December 2020. Jillian negotiated document discovery and took four of the five depositions that occurred prior to settlement. A settlement that involves a cash fund of $49.75 million, with the option for farmers to receive cash or to trade-in their A4 robot for a new A5 robot, was preliminarily approved in January 2023.

Lundy et al. v. Meta Platforms, Inc. (Northern District of California): Jillian was the case manager, one of the primary authors of complaints and briefing, and led fact discovery efforts on behalf of consumers who alleged that Facebook had tracked their location despite the users turning their Location Services setting as to the Facebook application off. After the Plaintiffs prevailed over Meta’s motion to dismiss in September 2021, Jillian led the negotiation of written discovery and was preparing with the team to take depositions before the parties engaged in mediation and agreed to a settlement. The $37.5 million settlement was issued preliminary approval in April 2023.

In re T-Mobile Customer Data Security Breach Litig. (Western District of Missouri): After Norman Siegel was appointed as one of the three co-lead interim class counsel, Jillian managed the case on behalf of SSH and was one of the primary drafters of the 338-page consolidated complaint. She also negotiated the Protective Order and ESI Protocol, including arguing related issues to the Court. After the parties agreed to a settlement, Jillian was one of the drafters for the preliminary approval motion, final approval motion, and various attendant briefing, as well as assisting in overseeing the claims process. The $350 million settlement received final approval in June 2023.  

Publications

Missouri and the Charter School Puzzle: A Story with an Uncertain Ending, 79 MO. L. REV. 733

Honors & Recognitions

The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch 

• Commercial Litigation - Kansas City, Missouri (2023)

Missouri Lawyers Weekly 2021 Up and Coming Lawyer

CALI Awards of Excellence for the Top Grade in Civil Procedure I & II, Torts, Criminal Law, Advocacy & Research, Contracts II, Constitutional Law, Complex Litigation, Jurisprudence, Estates & Trusts, and Criminal Procedure

John D. Lawson Prize for Best Work in Contracts

Judge Shepard Barclay Prize for third year student who has attained the highest standing in scholarship and moral leadership

MU Law School Foundation Prize for student with highest scholastic achievement during third year

Sidney Faber Award for Best Work in Criminal Law

William F. Fratcher Prize for Best Work in Estates and Trusts

Community & Professional

CLE Co-Chair (Western District of Missouri) for KCMBA’s Federal Court Advocates Section, 2023

Served on the 2023 District of Kansas Panel to Select a Magistrate Judge

Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Bar Leadership Academy 2019