Microsoft Also Named In Lawsuit.
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Palm Beach County attorney is suing Microsoft and Yahoo’s AOL, claiming he is completely locked out of his email and cloud storage accounts, which hold all of his law firm’s confidential client files. Ian Bressler, a Florida attorney since 2013, filed the complaint Wednesday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, seeking an emergency injunction to regain access.
The lawsuit describes a digital catch-22. Bressler states he has used a Microsoft OneDrive account for about 12 years to store all his sensitive client files, and that this account is linked to his ianbressler@aol.com email, which he has had for two decades. On October 27, Microsoft logged him out of OneDrive and, as a security measure, sent a verification code to his AOL email. However, when Bressler tried to log into his AOL account, that service sent its own verification code to an old phone number he no longer has access to.
According to the complaint, Bressler’s attempts to resolve the issue directly with the companies have failed. He says he contacted AOL customer service, provided a driver’s license and a selfie to prove his identity, but was told they were “unable to verify the account” and was given a ticket number with no follow-up. A separate verification attempt with Microsoft, which included answering security questions, was also denied.
Bressler claims in the filing that the lockout has caused “irreparable harm” to himself, his law firm, and his clients. The suit states that without access to the accounts, he has an “inability to access the legal files that are needed to effectively represent” his clients. The complaint argues that the public interest dictates an attorney must have access to their client files.
The lawsuit asks a judge to issue an injunction forcing both AOL and Microsoft to immediately grant Bressler access to his accounts. He is also suing both tech giants for negligence, alleging their verification procedures are flawed, and is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 from each company.
