Carlson Lynch

What Carlson Lynch does

Carlson Lynch (also doing business as Lynch Carpenter LLP) is a national plaintiff-side litigation law firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The firm represents individuals, workers, students, and small businesses in complex class action and multidistrict litigation, with concentrated expertise in data breach and privacy litigation, consumer protection, employment and wage-and-hour claims, financial fraud and lending practices, higher education fund disputes, antitrust, and disability rights.

The firm's business model is built on contingency fee arrangements: clients pay no upfront costs and the firm receives a percentage of any settlement or judgment obtained. Cases are distributed across two operating geographies — Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, New Castle, Philadelphia) and California (San Diego, Los Angeles/Pasadena). The firm has been appointed Co-Lead Counsel in national data breach litigation, including the MOVEit multidistrict litigation representing nearly 80 million individuals, and has secured high-profile settlements, including a $92 million TikTok privacy settlement, a $17 million Penn State COVID-19 class settlement, and cumulative class recoveries exceeding $1 billion ($250 million+ in data breach and privacy matters alone).

The firm is privately held as a Limited Liability Partnership. Recognition includes Chambers USA 2025 Gold Band 1, Law360 Pennsylvania Powerhouse in 2023 and 2024, 2020 Pennsylvania Litigation Department of the Year, and 2022 Privacy/Data Breach Firm of the Year finalist status. Note: a data conflict exists between the firmographics identifying the entity as "Carlson Lynch" (founded 2004, 11-50 employees, carlsonlynch.com) and the structured data describing "Lynch Carpenter LLP" (founded 2013, lynchcarpenter.com); this analysis reflects the consolidated evidence from both blocks.

Name

Carlson Lynch

Legal name

Lynch Carpenter LLP

Website

https://carlsonlynch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Carlson Lynch (d/b/a Lynch Carpenter LLP) is a national plaintiff-side litigation law firm in Pittsburgh that handles class actions and data breach lawsuits for consumers, workers, students, and small businesses on a contingency fee basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plaintiff-Side Litigation Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

White-Collar Defense & Investigations (BPAHAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Forensic Accounting & Fraud Investigations (BPAHANAH)

Keywords

• Plaintiff-side litigation
• Class action lawsuits
• Data breach litigation
• Consumer protection law
• Contingency fee attorney

Headquarters

HQ city

Pittsburgh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Contingency Fees: The firm operates on a contingency fee basis for class action and data breach litigation, where fees are collected as a percentage of settlements or judgments won for clients. This model aligns firm incentives with client outcomes and is standard for plaintiff-side class action work.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Carlson Lynch (Lynch Carpenter LLP) is a national plaintiff-side litigation law firm that represents individuals, workers, students, and small businesses in class action and individual lawsuits against corporations. Its core services include data breach and privacy litigation, employment and wage-and-hour claims, consumer protection, financial fraud and lending practices, higher education fund disputes, antitrust litigation, and disability rights representation, delivered primarily on a contingency-fee basis from offices in Pennsylvania and California.

Product overview

Carlson Lynch is a national law firm offering legal services across multiple practice areas. The firm provides litigation representation in data breach and privacy cases, employment and wage and hour disputes, consumer protection matters, financial fraud and lending practices cases, higher education fund litigation, antitrust cases, and disability legal services. Rather than a unified platform with modular components, the firm operates as a traditional law practice organized by legal specializations, with attorneys handling cases across these distinct practice areas from offices in Pittsburgh, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Privacy and Data Breach Litigation Legal representation for individuals and classes affected by corporate data breaches and privacy violations, including technology and financial companies. The firm has served as Co-Lead Counsel in major national data breach matters affecting tens of millions of individuals.
• Employment and Wage and Hour Litigation Legal representation for workers regarding employment rights, wage disputes, and hour violations by employers, including individual and collective actions.
• Consumer Protection Litigation Legal services protecting consumers from fraudulent business practices, defective products, and deceptive marketing, including class actions and individual claims.
• Financial Fraud and Lending Practices Litigation Litigation services addressing financial fraud, deceptive lending practices, and consumer financial harm against financial institutions and lenders.
• Higher Education Funds Litigation Legal representation regarding disputes involving higher education institutions and related fund management, including class settlements over tuition, fees, and COVID-19 closures.
• Antitrust Litigation Legal services addressing anticompetitive business practices and antitrust violations affecting consumers, workers, and small businesses in class and individual actions.
• Disability Legal Clinic Specialized legal services for individuals with disabilities seeking rights protection, accommodations, and related representation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1 billion in class recoveries
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Grant & Eisenhofer: Plaintiff-side firm focused on securities, consumer, and antitrust class actions. Comparable contingency-fee model and lead-counsel role in major class action dockets.
• Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check: Plaintiff-side class action firm with a strong data privacy, securities, and consumer protection practice. Comparable contingency-fee model and lead-counsel role in breach litigation.
• Labaton Sucharow: Plaintiff-side class action and securities litigation firm with a strong data privacy and consumer protection practice. Closely comparable business model (contingency fees) and overlap in data breach class actions.
• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: National plaintiff-side firm with deep expertise in consumer protection, privacy, and employment class actions. Comparable contingency model and class action focus.
• Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd: Large plaintiff-side firm handling securities fraud, consumer, and data privacy class actions. Comparable in contingency model, case scale, and lead-counsel status in nationwide MDLs.
• Seeger Weiss: Plaintiff-side complex litigation firm with strong mass tort and class action practices. Comparable contingency model and parallel focus on representing large plaintiff classes.
• Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann: Premier plaintiff-side firm handling securities, antitrust, consumer protection, and data privacy class actions. Comparable in case scale, contingency model, and lead-counsel positioning in major federal MDLs.
• Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll: Plaintiff-side class action firm with practices in consumer protection, data privacy, antitrust, and employment. Directly comparable in contingency model and lead-counsel strategy.
• Motley Rice: National plaintiff-side litigation firm with a flagship practice in data breach, privacy, and complex class action work. Directly comparable to Lynch Carpenter in case type, contingency-fee model, and lead-counsel role in major MDLs.
• Pomerantz LLP: Plaintiff-side securities, antitrust, and consumer class action firm. Comparable in contingency-fee structure and lead-counsel positioning in complex class litigation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Carlson Lynch