Angelo A. Stio, III

Angelo is an experienced trial attorney who has handled matters in courts and before arbitration tribunals throughout the U.S. He focuses his practice on data privacy and security, consumer financial services, and higher education.

Angelo has a long track record of defending clients in class actions, litigating complex business to business disputes, and handling corporate governance disputes. He is recognized as a “Local Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation (2019-2024); by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Litigation: General Commercial – Band Four; by New Jersey Super Lawyers (2011-2017) for business litigation; and in Best Lawyers in America®: Commercial Litigation (2023).

Data Privacy and Security

In the data privacy and security space, Angelo has defended clients in class actions and assisted business in disputes with other businesses and individuals involving privacy and technology issues. Some of Angelo’s more recent privacy and security engagements include:

• Serving as defense counsel in the In re Blackbaud Customer Data Breach multidistrict litigation, involving 29 class actions involving common law and statutory claims arising from a ransomware attack. Part of a team that successfully defeated a motion for class certification on the basis of lack of ascertainability.
• Fausto Aguilar v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., et al. (C.D. Cal). Obtained dismissal with prejudice at the motion to dismiss stage of a nationwide class action filed against fourteen insurance companies and asserting claims for violations of the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) and negligence.
• McLeod v. Bearak Reports, Inc. (D. Mass). Obtained favorable settlement on behalf of defendants in a putative nationwide class action asserting claims for violations of the improper interception of debit card information in violation of the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act.
• Jenkins v. Siemens Medical Solutions, USA (Sp. Ct. D.C.). Obtained dismissal of a class action arising from an alleged data breach involving lost laptop and PHI.
• Chiarieri v. Exelon (Sup. Ct. N.J.). Defended Exelon against claims arising from a breach of security on an electronic stock trading platform.
• Singer v. TD Bank, N.A. (Sup. Ct. N.J.). Defended national bank against claims arising from inadequate security measures associated with medallion signature guarantee programs.
• Ubaldi v. AllianceOne Receivables Management, Inc. (D.N.J.). Defended receivable management company in putative class action alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
• Klingensmith v. Molton Brown USA Ltd. (E.D. Pa). Defended retailer in nationwide class action alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003.
• Successfully defended a global construction company in an FTC investigation of the company’s compliance with the EU/US Privacy Shield requirements.
• Representing a data mining platform provider in a putative class action alleging claims of negligence and state law violations arising from a security incident.

Angelo is accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional / United States (CIPP/US), and currently serves as the co-chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association Privacy Law Committee. Pursuant to New Jersey Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4, the designation as a Certified Information Privacy Professional has not been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Angelo also is an adjunct professor at Rider University, where he teaches a course on Cyber Ethics and Societal Impacts.

Higher Education

In the higher education space, Angelo has handled some of the firm’s most high-profile litigations, including: (i) defending a university and its board of trustees in a lawsuit alleging breaches of fiduciary duty arising from a decision to change the university’s tuition scholarship program; (ii) defending a university’s board of trustees in an investigation into allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and corporate waste being pursued by a state attorney general; (iii) obtaining the dismissal of complaints filed by students and separately by alumni, faculty, and donors challenging a board’s decision to relocate a college campus; (iv) defending a college in a wrongful death action involving allegations of hazing; (v) defending numerous educational institutions in Title IX litigations; and (vi) obtaining summary judgment dismissing a traumatic brain injury case seeking to recover $40 million in damages from a university. In addition to his trial work, Angelo routinely counsels college and university administrators on corporate governance, risk mitigation, Title IX, the Clery Act, FERPA, and student conduct matters.

Pro Bono

• Obtained a settlement the client found favorable in Disability Rights of New Jersey, Inc. v. State of New Jersey, Civil No. 05-4723 (AET), pursuing claims alleging the state was violating the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) and was violating the due process rights of institutionalized individuals.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction that precluded a college and its president from violating the First Amendment rights of three student newspaper reporters, Coppola v. Larson, 2006 WL 2129471 (D.N.J. 2006).
• Appeared before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of two individuals seeking political asylum, Li v. Attorney General of U.S., 140 Fed. Appx. 361 (3d Cir. 2005) and Miah v. Ashcroft, 346 F.3d 434 (3d Cir. 2003).

• Best Lawyers in America®: Commercial Litigation (2023)
• Benchmark Litigation: “Local Litigation Star” in Pennsylvania (2019-2021, 2023-2025)
• Chambers USA: Litigation: General Commercial (2024)
• Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer (2025) – independently rated lawyers
• New Jersey Super Lawyers (2011-2017)