John J. Atallah is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP, where he represents clients in complex commercial and class action litigation in state and federal courts nationwide, with a practice focused on consumer protection, regulatory compliance, and high-stakes business disputes. He serves as the vice chair of the firm’s Consumer Law, Finance & Class Action Practice.
John advises and defends clients across a wide range of industries, including consumer reporting agencies, online retailers, manufacturers and distributors of commercial and consumer products, financial institutions, payment processors, and insurance brokers. He regularly helps clients navigate evolving statutory and regulatory requirements, assess litigation risk, and defend against individual and putative class action claims, including those arising under the following federal and state laws:
- Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), including claims relating to the Do Not Call List and Reassigned Numbers Database
- Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA)
- California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), including claims relating to the deployment of cookie consent banners and use of cookies, pixels, and other technologies
- California Automatic Renewal Law (ARL), including compliance with requirements for disclosures, email reminders, and cancellation workflows
- California False Advertising Law (FAL), including claims relating to product labeling and the use of strikethrough prices
- California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), including claims related to California’s Honest Pricing Law
- California Unfair Competition Law (UCL)
- California Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA)
- California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA)
- Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA)
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Unruh Civil Rights Act
- Various other federal and state unfair trade practice, data privacy, and consumer protection laws
In addition to his litigation and counseling practice, John is a frequent presenter on consumer reporting issues and on the impact of artificial intelligence on legal practice. He is also committed to mentoring the next generation of lawyers. A former fellow with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), he remains immersed as a mentor to young attorneys and a frequent speaker on career development. John is also an active member of the Association of Business and Trial Lawyers (ABTL).
John also maintains a robust pro bono practice, with experience representing clients in disability rights and immigration matters, including asylum appeals, habeas petitions, adjustment-of-status applications, and petitions for alien relatives, as well as arts-related matters. John is also the firm’s pro bono liaison with California Lawyers for the Arts, and previously served as the Chair of the Associates Advisory Board for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, one of the largest public interest law firms in the country.
Before joining Foley as a summer associate in 2012, John served as a legal specialist with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Board, a legislative assistant with Wheat Government Relations in Washington, D.C., and an intern for the United States Senate. John started building computers at a young age, and prior to entering the legal profession, he worked as an IT systems administrator for a medical services provider, where he gained hands-on experience building and repairing enterprise computer systems.
Awards and Recognition
- Selected by Los Angeles Times, DEIA Visionary (2024)
Presentations and Publications
- Speaker, “Privacy, Cybersecurity and AI In Litigation: What In-House Counsel Need to Know About Technology and Litigation Trends in 2025,” Foley & Lardner LLP National CLE Week (November 2025)
- Speaker, “2025 AI Update: Key Legal Challenges and Strategies for Business,” Institute for Corporate Counsel (December 2025)
- “Fourth Circuit Holds No Article III Standing Where No Third-Party Viewed Inaccurate Information,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (September 2024)
- “Supreme Court Rules That the CFPB Is Constitutionally Funded,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (May 2024)
- Co-author, “Sufficiently Conspicuous: Arbitration Agreements and Class Action Waivers for Subscription-Based Businesses,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (July 2023)
- Co-author, “Auto-Renewal Class Actions on the Rise,” Daily Journal (January 2023)
- Co-author, “FTC Strengthens Data Security Requirements,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (November 2021)
- Co-author, “Courts Hold Contract Disputes Not Actionable Under FCRA,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (September 2021)
- Co-author, “How to Lose a Class Action Settlement in 10 Ways,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (July 2021)
- Co-author, “Supreme Court Rules Injury at Law Insufficiently Concrete to Establish Injury in Fact,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (June 2021)
- Co-author, “A Reminder that Power Purchase Agreements may be Subject to Consumer Protection Laws,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog, Foley’s Renewable Energy Outlook (February 2021)
- Co-author, “HHS Expands and Clarifies Scope of Immunity under the PREP Act,” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center, Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog, Foley’s Manufacturing Industry Advisor (December 2020)
- Co-author, “Supreme Court to Consider Actual Injury Requirement for Absent Class Members,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (December 2020)
- Co-author, “PREP Act Immunity in the COVID-19 Era: Recent Decisions Impacting Your Defenses to Coronavirus-Related Claims,” Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center, Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog, Health Care Law Today, Foley’s Manufacturing Industry Advisor (November 2020)
- Co-author, “Proposed SAFE TO WORK Act Offers Protections to Businesses Impacted by COVID-19,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog, Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business, and Manufacturing Industry Advisor (August 2020)
- Co-author, “Creditors Must Continue to Take Proper Care under the CARES Act,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog and Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (August 2020)
- Co-author, “Survey Results Confirm Foley & Lardner LLP’s Prediction Regarding Uptick in Class Action Lawsuits,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog and Foley’s Coronavirus Resource Center: Back to Business (July 2020)
- Co-author, “California’s Ascertainability Requirement Following Noel v. Thrifty Payless, Inc.,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (June 2020)
- Co-author, “Tackling Legal and Business Challenges Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (June 2020)
- Co-author, “Protecting Your Business from COVID-19 Class Action Lawsuits,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (April 2020)
- Co-author, “Heightened Ascertainability Remains a Formidable Requirement to Achieving Class Certification in the Third Circuit: Administrative Feasibility Following City Select v. BMW Bank of North America,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (May 2018)
- Co-author, “Taking the Pulse of Ascertainability in the Ninth Circuit after Briseno v. ConAgra Foods, Inc.,” Consumer Class Defense Counsel Blog (October 2017)
- Co-author, “Not Your Product? Not Your Duty To Warn,” Law360 (August 2012)
- “Smartphone Wars,” The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review Blog (April 2012)
John Atallah Named DEIA Visionary by Los Angeles Times
Fourth Circuit Holds No Article III Standing Where No Third-Party Viewed Inaccurate Information
Foley Secures Landmark Victory for Pro Bono Client in Federal and State Cases
Supreme Court Rules That the CFPB Is Constitutionally Funded
Foley Announces 23 New Partners
