Areas of Practice
Industries
Bar Admissions
- Michigan, 1999
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2000
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2000
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 2007
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2011
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2019
Education
University of Michigan, J.D.
University of Michigan, B.A., magna cum laude
L'Università Italiana per Stranieri, Perugia, Diploma di Quinto Grado
Language
- Italian
Dante Stella is a senior litigator trusted by clients and colleagues to plan and execute responses to complicated or high-risk matters that either involve data of an extensive or sensitive nature (like class actions, major commercial litigation, and responses to government investigations) or are about data, such as coordinating responses to security incidents and data breaches, evaluating and negotiating supply chain relationships that involve the handling of confidential or sensitive data, or helping enterprises improve their information lifecycle management and readiness for major legal events.
Mr. Stella leads Dykema's Discovery Management and E-Discovery Group, a cross-disciplinary and solution-oriented team of attorneys, legal specialists, and legal technologists.
Mr. Stella is also a member of Dykema's Pro Bono Committee, representing the Detroit office.
Litigation and Investigations
Having been a litigator for nearly two decades, Mr. Stella has handled a wide variety of cases for clients who are manufacturers (both general and automotive), retailers, banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies, and owners of closely held businesses. These matters have spanned almost every area of litigation, both named plaintiff and class actions, including:
- Antitrust litigation
- Manufacturing-related litigation (products liability, warranty cost recovery)
- Business torts (fraud, trade secrets, consumer protection)
- Financial services litigation (such as higher exposure TILA, FDCPA, FCRA and TCPA matters)
Mr. Stella's investigative work (for internal and external investigations) includes planning, coordinating, and executing compliant and cost-effective responses to criminal and regulatory investigations by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); the Office of the Inspector General (OIG); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and state authorities. His skills in this area include:
- Data preservation procedures
- Initial assessments of information sought
- Negotiation over scope of information and document productions
- Witness interviews and surveys of data sources
- Compliant analytics, review, and production of data
Data Privacy and Security
Mr. Stella is a member of Dykema’s Data Privacy and Security Group and is co-editor of the firm’s Firewall data privacy and security blog.
Leveraging his long experience with litigating contractual disputes, Mr. Stella assists numerous clients with the negotiation of contracts (both upstream and downstream) where the mishandling of personal information, protected health information, or commercially-sensitive information could generate significant first- or third-party liability.
He also applies his experience in crisis and vendor management to assist clients in assessing and remediating data security incidents, both to solve immediate problems and minimize long-term litigation and other risk.
Finally, Mr. Stella applies data privacy principles to the design of E-Discovery projects so that cases of a completely commercial nature do not unexpectedly spawn liability from violations of data privacy laws.
E-Discovery Design, Compliance, and Defense
In his role with Dykema's E-Discovery and Discovery Management Group, Mr. Stella's specialized projects have covered all aspects of the field in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, banking, insurance, health care, energy, construction, and services. Active for nearly two decades in the field, he assists clients with:
- Compliant, efficient, and cost-effective methods for preserving, processing, reviewing, and producing data in litigation
- Negotiation of E-Discovery protocols and related motions
- Training client personnel on “peacetime” activities such as information lifecycle management, deployment of in-house E-Discovery systems, and structuring discovery activities.
Mr. Stella is also available as a mediator or special master for E-Discovery disputes. His extensive knowledge of E-Discovery processes and attendant cost issues makes him well-suited to fashion reasoned, realistic solutions to the sharp disagreements that can arise in this field.
Prior to joining Dykema, Mr. Stella interned for the Honorable Avern Cohn, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Seminars & Speeches
- Update on Data Privacy Laws - Nationally and Internationally, Association of Certified E-Discovery SpecialistsSeptember 27, 2019
- Social Media, Email, Texts and Video Evidence in the Employment Law Case: What to Look For, Where to Find It and How to Get it Admitted, Panelist, IICLE Employment Law InstituteJanuary 24, 2019
- September 19, 2017
- Key Compliance Issues for 2017March 16, 2017
- January 20, 2017
- Introduction to E-Discovery, Guest Lecturer, Michigan State University School of LawOctober 12, 2015
- Impending Changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Their Impact on E-Discovery, FBA, E.D. Michigan, Seminar on Discovery of Electronically Stored Information, Detroit, MichiganFebruary 10, 2015
- Data Governance and Electronic Discovery: The Intersection of Corporate Governance, Information Management, and eDiscovery (webinar in conjunction with Grant Thornton LLP)January 19, 2012
- Exploring the Electronic Discovery Reference Model, Association of Litigation Support Professionals, Eastern Michigan ChapterMarch 15, 2011
- Myths vs. Reality in Electronic Discovery Practice (development of panel discussion for Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference)October 2010
- Effective Record Retention Policies and Practices (seminar in Dykema's Executive Circle series)October 13, 2010
- Separating Myth from Reality in Electronic Discovery (webinar)September 16, 2010
- Using Discovery Management to Control Your Litigation Budget (webinar)March 25, 2010
- Discovery Management Solutions and Cost Containment Strategies (webinar)January 28, 2010
- Legal Aspects of Information Management (for governmental agencies)August 12, 2009
Publications
- June 30, 2020The Firewallhttps://www.thefirewall-blog.com/2020/06/whats-our-name-again-cyber-imposters-pose-a-business-threat/
- April 18, 2020The Firewallhttps://www.thefirewall-blog.com/2020/04/locating-covid-19-without-the-location-data/
- March 17, 2020The Firewallhttps://www.thefirewall-blog.com/2020/03/the-privatization-of-the-fourth-amendment/
- February 27, 2020The Open Road - Automotive Law Bloghttps://www.openroadlawblog.com/2020/02/ccpa-keeping-the-wheels-on-the-road/
- December 30, 2019Law.comhttps://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2019/12/30/legal-techs-predictions-for-e-discovery-in-2020/
- November 26, 2019The Firewallhttps://www.thefirewall-blog.com/2019/11/tis-the-season-to-be-on-heightened-alert-fbi-warns-of-targeted-cyber-attacks/
- November 21, 2019The Firewallhttps://www.thefirewall-blog.com/2019/11/understanding-regulation-of-cookies/
- March–April 2019The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law, Vol. 2, No. 2, Full Court Press
- July 2018Business Crimes Bulletin – Law Journal Newsletters
- April 26, 2018The Firewallhttps://www.thefirewall-blog.com/2018/04/storm-cloud-cross-border-discovery-horizon/
- July 29, 2016Law360
- Summer 2016State Bar of Michigan Litigation Journal
- Winter 2015Federal Bar Association Eastern District of Michigan Chapter: Litigation Technology Committee/Social Media Newsletter
- August 25, 2014http://www.metrocorpcounsel.com/articles/29840/nine-tips-controlling-discovery-expenses-and-risks
- "Backups: What You Don't Need Can Hurt You"April 2012Stout Risius Ross Journal
- February 2011Michigan Bar Journal
- June 2010Of Counsel-The Legal Practice Management Report
News
- December 30, 2019
Alerts
- April 3, 2020
- November 26, 2019
- December 10, 2018
- June 29, 2018
- June 29, 2018
- April 2, 2015
- Court clarifies proofs under CFAA and twice constrains E-Discovery sanctionsFebruary 26, 2015
- October 6, 2014
- April 9, 2014
- December 2011
- First Quarter 2011
- February 2011
- February 5, 2010
Press Releases
- February 23, 2012
Memberships & Involvement
- The Sedona Conference Working Group 1 (Electronic Discovery)
- The Sedona Conference Working Group 11 (Data Security and Privacy Liability)
- International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Corporate Affiliate
- American Bar Association (Litigation, Antitrust, and Science & Technology Sections)
- State Bar of Michigan (Litigation, Antitrust, and Information Technology Law Sections)
- Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
Community/Civic Activities
- Detroit Historical Society Board of Trustees
- Leadership Detroit, Class XXXVIII