LOS ANGELES - March 20, 2025 - Greenberg Glusker has achieved a groundbreaking victory, securing a $33 million arbitration award against T-Mobile. Undeterred by T-Mobile’s standard litany of denials, the skillful lawyering on behalf of the individual cell phone customer humbled the telecom giant for its numerous security failures that enabled a SIM swap attack leading to the theft of cryptocurrency. The ruling sends a clear message: phone carriers must do more to protect consumers.

In the Fall of 2023, the firm’s trial team—Pierce O'Donnell, Paul Blechner, James Molen, and Eric Sefton—navigated a heavily-contested arbitration, culminating in a decisive ruling after 12 days of testimony. The final award of $33 million, which T-Mobile promptly paid, incorporated two prior rulings in the arbitration, an 89-page Interim Award on liability and damages and a 38-page ruling granting over $6.5 million in attorneys' fees, costs, and interest. The firm filed a petition with the Los Angeles Superior Court to confirm the award, marking the first time this historic award, and the underlying legal battle, have been made public.

A Wake-Up Call for the Telecom Industry

Paul Blechner, who led the case preparations and handled several critical witnesses at trial, including the bad actor who accessed T-Mobile’s system and perpetrated the SIM swap, emphasized the broader impact of the Award: “This was a great result for our client, and for phone users everywhere. SIM swapping has been an unchecked security flaw for years. Carriers like T-Mobile have known about it and failed to take basic precautions. This award makes it clear: they must do better.”

Pierce O’Donnell, a veteran trial attorney with roughly 50 years of litigation experience as lead counsel, who cross-examined senior T-Mobile witnesses, and gave a compelling opening statement that was the roadmap for the evidence that followed, further underscored the case’s significance: “This is the largest known SIM swap-related award on record and a significant victory for cell phone consumers. Paul Blechner and James Molen did a brilliant job with pretrial discovery and preparing the case for trial.”

James Molen, who led critical pre-trial and post-trial briefing and cross-examined key T-Mobile witnesses, highlighted the strength of the evidence: “T-Mobile tried every argument to avoid responsibility, but the facts told a different story—T-Mobile failed to take the reasonable steps necessary to fix its porous security system and to protect its vulnerable customers. This trail blazing award is a crucial step in holding phone carriers accountable.”

T-Mobile’s Attempt to Keep Ruling Under Wraps

While the $33 million award is now public, T-Mobile has moved to seal the arbitrator’s findings, blocking access to details of its security failures. Molen condemned this move: “T-Mobile is trying to hide the truth. They fought accountability at every turn, from blaming the victim to obstructing evidence production. The public has a right to know how their phone provider is putting them at risk, and we are confident the court will ensure transparency.”

Blechner elaborated: “When the unauthorized SIM swap occurs, your phone is shut off from the network. During this period, the carriers are redirecting your calls and texts to a phone controlled by the bad actor. Given the prevalent use of the phone as a method of ID for password resets and two-factor authentication for all kinds of accounts, this allows the bad actor to impersonate the customer. Clearly, the public has a compelling need to know about the ease with which SIM swaps have been occurring and about excuses that carriers are raising in litigation to avoid responsibility.”

O’Donnell continued: “As the arbitration unfolded, T-Mobile’s defenses crumbled under the weight of the evidence. The arbitrator’s ruling is insightful and mirrors a recent Ninth Circuit decision—Terpin v. AT&T Mobility LLC—also won by Greenberg Glusker attorneys affirming telecom liability under federal law. This victory over T-Mobile establishes a clear path for recovery by others who have been similarly harmed. The public should be allowed to see it.”

This landmark victory reinforces consumer rights and highlights the urgent need for stronger protections against SIM swap fraud.

Greenberg Glusker has been litigating SIM swapping cases since 2018 and is the preeminent law firm addressing SIM swapping, cryptocurrency malfeasance, and blockchain-related legal issues, combining deep expertise in litigation, intellectual property, finance, and regulatory compliance. Visit https://www.greenbergglusker.com/crypto-nfts/ for more information.

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