Clifford Chance's (CC's) US litigation team has successfully defended ING Life Insurance in a class action suit in the Washington DC court of appeals.

The privacy case, which had been brought on behalf of Washington DC government employees alleging that ING lost their private, sensitive financial and personal information, was dismissed last month (18 June) with the court ruling in favour of the insurer.

CC litigation partner Steve Nickelsburg advised ING along with US litigation chief Juan Morillo and a team of associates from the firm's Washington office. DC sole practitioner Greg Lattimer represented a group of about 13,000 plaintiffs, each seeking between $10,000 (£6,000) and $150,000 (£90,000) worth of damages.

The case arose after a computer containing private pension information for government workers was stolen from an ING employee's home.