People sent notice that their personal information may have been involved in the October 2025 data incident at Docketwise — the immigration case management platform run by 8am, LLC — may qualify to claim a flat $50 with no documentation, or up to $5,000 in documented losses and lost time instead, from the Docketwise data breach class action settlement. Claims close October 15, 2026, and two years of credit monitoring can be claimed alongside either cash option.
Current Status
Claims are open. Claim Forms must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on October 15, 2026, or mailed with an October 15, 2026 postmark. The deadlines to exclude yourself from the class and to object both closed on September 15, 2026, so filing a claim is the only step left that changes anything.The 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida granted preliminary approval, and the final approval hearing is set for October 19, 2026 at 2:45 p.m. Eastern time in a virtual courtroom. No final approval order has been entered and no payment date has been announced. Nothing here is automatic — the notice states that submitting a valid and timely Claim Form is the only way to receive benefits, and that includes the credit monitoring.
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What Changed Recently
The claim process opened under a court-authorized notice program in Emerokwam v. 8am LLC d/b/a Docketwise, Case No. 2026-011702-CA-01, in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida. Kroll Settlement Administration is administering the settlement, and notice went out by mail and email to the people on the settlement class list.Most people in this class have never heard of Docketwise, and that is the first thing to sort out. Docketwise is case management software for immigration lawyers, sold by 8am, LLC. Its users are law firms; the people whose information was exposed are those firms' clients. So the notice that arrived in April 2026 came from a company nobody in the class ever hired, about a system nobody in the class ever logged into. The settlement agreement lists roughly a hundred immigration law firms, legal aid organizations and nonprofits as Docketwise clients, and those firms are among the parties released by this settlement.
The complaint alleges that in or around October 2025, cybercriminals obtained the credentials to one of Docketwise's third-party partner repositories and potentially acquired the personal information of current and former clients of firms using the service. It pleads negligence and negligence per se, breach of implied contract, and unjust enrichment, and alleges that 8am both failed to protect the information adequately and failed to notify affected people in a timely manner. 8am denies all of the claims and denies any liability or wrongdoing. The court has not decided who is right; the parties settled after a mediation in May 2026 to avoid the cost and risk of a trial.
The case took a detour before it landed in Florida. Two federal actions were filed in the Western District of Texas in April and May 2026. During settlement discussions the parties concluded Florida state court was the appropriate forum, dismissed the federal cases, and filed a consolidated complaint in Miami-Dade County on June 9, 2026.
Who Qualifies?
The court preliminarily certified a class of all living individuals residing in the United States who were sent notice — including notice of this settlement — that their personally identifiable information may have been involved in the data incident. The settlement agreement puts the number at approximately 143,480 people, and 8am began notifying them on April 15, 2026. Receiving that notice is what establishes membership; the class is defined by the notice list rather than by any relationship a person had with Docketwise.Five groups are excluded: the judges presiding over the case, along with their staff and immediate families; governmental entities; 8am and its subsidiaries, parent companies, successors and predecessors, any entity in which 8am or its parents hold a controlling interest, and their current and former officers and directors; anyone who submitted a valid request for exclusion before the September 15, 2026 opt-out deadline; and anyone a court finds criminally responsible for causing or abetting the incident.
The categories of information at issue are unusually broad. The notice says the exposed data varied by individual but included some combination of name, address, driver's license number, financial account number, financial account username and access information, government ID number, health insurance policy number, taxpayer ID number, medical condition or treatment information, non-numerical immigration information, passport number, payment card number, payment card access information, Social Security number, state ID number, and username and access information for a non-financial account. Passport numbers and immigration information sitting alongside Social Security numbers and account credentials is a wider combination than a typical breach notice describes.
How Much Can You Get?
The cash side is an either/or choice, and the credit monitoring sits alongside whichever option is selected.Alternative Cash Payment — a flat $50. The notice states that no supporting documentation and no attestation are required to receive it. Electing it forecloses the documented-loss and lost-time route.
Reimbursement of Out-of-Pocket Losses and Lost Time — the other option, subject to an aggregate cap of $5,000 per person. Out-of-pocket losses must be fairly traceable to the incident and not already reimbursed by a third party, and the notice lists what counts: unreimbursed losses relating to fraud or identity theft; professional fees, including attorney fees, accountants' fees and credit repair fees; costs of freezing or unfreezing credit with a credit reporting agency; credit monitoring, identity protection or ID theft insurance bought on or after the incident through the date of the claim; and miscellaneous expenses such as notary, fax, postage, copying, mileage and long-distance telephone charges. Lost time is claimed at $25 an hour for up to three hours, or $75, and can be claimed on its own or together with documented losses. The $5,000 cap covers both together — it is not $5,000 plus $75.
Credit Monitoring — two years of Kroll one-bureau credit monitoring, available to every class member regardless of which cash option they choose, or whether they claim cash at all. It still has to be claimed on the form. The administrator emails or mails an activation code within fourteen days of the effective date, and the code stays valid for 180 days from mailing, so the two-year term can be started at any point in that window.
One structural detail separates this settlement from most data breach cases: there is no settlement fund. 8am pays approved claims directly, and separately pays the notice and administration costs, the court-approved fee award of up to $300,000, and the service awards of $2,500 to each of the two class representatives. Nothing comes out of a common pot, so no aggregate cap divides among claimants and nothing in the agreement reduces the $50 pro rata based on how many people file. The $5,000 individual cap on the documented-loss option is the only ceiling in the settlement.
Documentation standards apply to the losses, not to the $50. Supporting documentation means third-party records — receipts, invoices, credit card statements, phone bills — that show the costs were incurred. Self-prepared documents such as handwritten receipts are not enough on their own, though they can add clarity to other records. Lost time needs only an attestation, made by checking a box on the claim form swearing that the time was spent responding to issues raised by the incident.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
This settlement is proof-required, and the gate is the login rather than receipts. The online claim form opens on a login screen that asks for a Class Member ID and will not advance without one. That ID is printed on the notice that was mailed or emailed in April 2026, so a class member who deleted the email or discarded the postcard cannot start the online form.The paper form is the way around it. The downloadable Claim Form asks for the Class Member ID only if known, which means a mailed claim can be submitted without it — the administrator verifies class membership against the class list instead. A paper copy can also be requested from the settlement administrator through the settlement website. That concession is about the envelope, not the website, which is why the facts strip above reads Yes rather than No.
After that, the documentation required depends on the option. The $50 Alternative Cash Payment needs no documentation and no attestation at all. Out-of-pocket losses need third-party records of the kind described above. Lost time needs the attestation checkbox. Credit monitoring needs nothing beyond the claim itself and a way to reach you, since the activation code is emailed where an address is available and mailed otherwise.
A deficient claim is not simply denied. The administrator notifies the class member of the problem and gives twenty-one days to cure it; if the cure fails, the administrator issues a final determination within ten days. Claimants who dispute an initial determination can ask for review by counsel for the parties.
What Is the Deadline?
Online Claim Forms must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on October 15, 2026. Mailed Claim Forms, with any supporting documentation, must be postmarked no later than October 15, 2026.The other two windows have closed. Requests for exclusion had to be postmarked by September 15, 2026, and objections had to be filed with the court and mailed to the settlement administrator by the same date. A class member who let both pass is bound by the settlement if the court approves it, which means releasing their claims against 8am and the released parties over this incident whether or not they ever file a claim. The release is broad: it covers known and unknown claims arising out of the incident, and it includes an express waiver of California Civil Code section 1542 and of claims under California's Consumer Privacy Act and Unfair Competition Law.
How Do You Take Action?
The fastest route is the online claim form at the official settlement website, DocketwiseSettlement.com. Enter the Class Member ID from the notice, fill in your contact details, choose either the $50 Alternative Cash Payment or the documented-loss and lost-time route, check the box for the two years of credit monitoring, upload any supporting documents, and submit before 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on October 15, 2026.The form also asks how you want to be paid. The paper Claim Form lists Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, ACH and check, and the settlement website carries a step-by-step guide for the electronic options. A paper check has to be cashed within 90 days of issue; if one goes stale or comes back undeliverable, the administrator is required to try to reach you and reissue it, and a reissued check is good for 60 days.
To file on paper, download the Claim Form from the settlement website, complete and sign it, attach documentation for any out-of-pocket claim, and mail it to the settlement administrator so it is postmarked by October 15, 2026. The Class Member ID is optional on that form. An email address is worth including either way — it is how the credit monitoring activation code arrives, and how the administrator reaches you about a deficient claim.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the final approval hearing on October 19, 2026 at 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, which the court has set to be held in a virtual courtroom. At that hearing the court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, whether to grant the fee and expense application of up to $300,000, and whether to approve the $2,500 service awards. The notice warns that the date and time may change without further notice, so the settlement website is the place to check.One contingency is worth knowing about. The settlement agreement gives 8am the option to terminate the deal if more than 75 class members exclude themselves, and it had to give notice of any such decision within ten days of the September 15, 2026 opt-out deadline. That threshold is small against a class of roughly 143,480, but the opt-out count will not be public until the administrator files its declaration ahead of the hearing.
If the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved, the settlement becomes effective. Approved claims for out-of-pocket losses and lost time are paid within 30 days after that date, and credit monitoring activation codes go out within 14 days of it. No payment date had been announced as of September 17, 2026. The settlement website comes down 90 days after the effective date, so anything worth keeping should be saved before then.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who qualifies for the Docketwise data breach settlement?
The settlement class is all living individuals residing in the United States who were sent notice that their personally identifiable information may have been involved in the data incident. Most class members were never Docketwise customers themselves; they were clients of the immigration law firms, legal aid organizations and nonprofits that use the software, and about 143,480 people were notified beginning April 15, 2026. Excluded are the judges and their staff and immediate families, governmental entities, 8am and its related companies and their officers and directors, anyone who validly opted out by September 15, 2026, and anyone criminally responsible for the incident.
How much does the Docketwise settlement pay?
Class members choose one of two cash options. The Alternative Cash Payment is a flat $50 that needs no documentation and no attestation. The other option reimburses documented out-of-pocket losses fairly traceable to the incident and pays lost time at $25 an hour for up to three hours, or $75, with both together capped at $5,000 per person. Everyone can also claim two years of Kroll one-bureau credit monitoring on top of whichever cash option they pick.
Is the Docketwise $50 payment reduced pro rata?
No. There is no settlement fund in this case. 8am pays approved claims directly, along with notice and administration costs, the court-approved fee award and the service awards, so no aggregate cap divides among claimants and nothing in the settlement agreement reduces the $50 based on how many people file. The only ceiling is the $5,000 individual cap on the documented-loss option.
Do I need a Class Member ID to file a Docketwise claim?
To file online, yes. The online claim form opens with a login screen that asks for the Class Member ID printed on the notice, and it will not proceed without one. The downloadable paper Claim Form asks for the Class Member ID only if known, so mailing a form is the route for someone who no longer has the notice. The settlement administrator can also be asked for a paper copy through the settlement website.
What is the deadline for the Docketwise data breach settlement?
Claim Forms must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on October 15, 2026, or mailed with a postmark no later than October 15, 2026. The deadlines to exclude yourself from the class or to object both closed on September 15, 2026.
Is DocketwiseSettlement.com legit?
Yes. DocketwiseSettlement.com is the official, court-authorized settlement website for Emerokwam v. 8am LLC d/b/a Docketwise, Case No. 2026-011702-CA-01, in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Kroll Settlement Administration is the court-appointed settlement administrator. Docketwise denies the claims and denies any liability or wrongdoing, and the court has not decided who is right. File only through the official settlement website.
When will Docketwise settlement payments be sent?
No payment date has been announced. Under the settlement agreement, approved claims for out-of-pocket losses and lost time are paid within 30 days after the settlement becomes effective, and credit monitoring activation codes go out within 14 days of that date. The effective date arrives only after final approval and after any appeals are resolved. The final approval hearing is scheduled for October 19, 2026 at 2:45 p.m. Eastern time in a virtual courtroom.
What information was involved in the Docketwise data incident?
According to the court-authorized notice, the information varied by individual but included some combination of name, address, driver's license number, financial account number, financial account username and access information, government ID number, health insurance policy number, taxpayer ID number, medical condition or treatment information, non-numerical immigration information, passport number, payment card number, payment card access information, Social Security number, state ID number, and username and access information for a non-financial account.
Watch Out for Scams
A court-appointed settlement administrator never charges a fee to release a class action payment and never asks for banking passwords or an upfront processing payment by text or phone. Filing is free through the official settlement website linked on this page, and that is the only place a claim should be submitted. This class deserves an extra warning: immigration status information and passport numbers were among the data involved, and scams that invoke immigration paperwork or threaten status consequences are a known follow-on to breaches like this one. No settlement administrator, and no government agency, will demand payment or documents over the phone because of a class action.Breaches at legal-industry vendors have produced several of these cases. The ABC Legal Services data breach settlement covers a court-filing and process-service vendor, and the Olinsky & Associates data breach settlement pays a law firm's clients automatically with no claim form. For how these cases work generally, read our explainer on the data breach class action, or browse the current roundup of open data breach settlements.
Sources and Verification
- Emerokwam v. 8am LLC d/b/a Docketwise — Official Settlement Website
- Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement, Emerokwam v. 8am LLC d/b/a Docketwise, Case No. 2026-011702-CA-01 (embedded below)
- Settlement Agreement and Release, with the Short Form Notice, Long Form Notice and Claim Form attached as exhibits (embedded below)
- Proposed Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement, 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida (embedded below)
- Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts — Case No. 2026-011702-CA-01
