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Compliance
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November 26, 2024
NAR Buyer-Broker Settlement Approved Over DOJ Concerns
A Missouri federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to the National Association of Realtors' antitrust settlement with home sellers, signing off on a $418 million payment and changes to broker commission rules, as NAR and the plaintiffs assailed the U.S. Department of Justice for raising last-minute concerns about the deal.
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November 26, 2024
EPA Asks Justices Not To Block Coal Ash Rule
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar called on the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to reject a Kentucky electric utility's effort to halt a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule strengthening federal regulations requiring safe management of coal ash.
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November 26, 2024
Smart Devices Fail To Disclose Security Lifespan, FTC Says
As holiday shopping gets underway, the Federal Trade Commission is raising alarm about smart device update disclosures, saying an overwhelming majority of devices – from hearing aids to home security cameras and fitness devices — come without clear information on how long the manufacturer will keep them protected from security risks.
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November 26, 2024
Crypto Miner Can't Get Quick Appeal In SEC Fraud Suit
A Utah man accused of defrauding crypto mining investors out of $18 million must face the claims that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought against him after a lower court judge on Tuesday declined his request to send the case to the Tenth Circuit.
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November 26, 2024
Atty Sanctioned In Privacy Suit Over Dodgy Prejudice Claims
A Texas federal judge chided a plaintiffs' attorney during a Tuesday hearing in a privacy-related proposed class action, saying the lawyer needs a "refresher" on local rules and fining him $150 for seemingly pushing his own self-interests.
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November 26, 2024
Madigan Pushed Land Transfer After Law Biz Pitch, Jury Told
A former Chicago alderman testifying against ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan told jurors Tuesday he connected prospective developers to Madigan, who lobbied to take on their legal work and soon after pushed legislation that would clear the way for their project.
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November 26, 2024
Google Search Judge Says AI Will Affect Remedy Phase
The judge overseeing the government's search monopolization case against Google suggested Tuesday in D.C. federal court that artificial intelligence is shifting the market and will likely play a role in the remedies the court imposes on Google for allegedly violating antitrust law.
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November 26, 2024
FDA Seeks Fines Against 18 Retailers Over E-Cig Sales
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that it is looking to issue fines against two "brick and mortar" stores and 16 online retailers who had been previously warned over sales of unlawful electronic cigarettes.
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November 26, 2024
Netflix Ditches Investor Suit Over Account Sharing For Good
A California federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a proposed class action accusing Netflix and its executives of misleading investors about growth challenges tied to account sharing, concluding "further leave to amend would be futile," since the investor plaintiffs were already given a chance to show that statements made were misleading.
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November 26, 2024
Mohawk Sues PFAS Manufacturers For Fraud
The world's largest flooring manufacturer has sued 3M Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., The Chemours Co., and Daikin America Inc. in Georgia state court, alleging the chemical manufacturers lied about the dangers of so-called forever chemicals in order to trick the company into purchasing their products.
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November 26, 2024
5th Circ. Says CFPB Payday Rule Can Take Effect Next Year
The Fifth Circuit said Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can begin requiring compliance with its payday lending rule in just a few months as planned, sidestepping a request from lender trade groups to keep a court-ordered stay in place for longer.
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November 26, 2024
Autodesk Wants Out Of Investor Suit Over Internal Controls
Autodesk Inc. asked a California federal judge on Tuesday to toss a proposed class action alleging the software company's stock price dropped after investors learned it lacked proper internal controls due to issues with its free cash flow and operating margin practices, saying its business plan statements at issue were "forward-looking" and accompanied by "cautionary" language.
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November 26, 2024
EPA Overstepped With Methane Control Rule, DC Circ. Told
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure infringe on states' authority to tailor their own regulations, Republican-led states and fossil fuel industry groups told the D.C. Circuit Monday.
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November 26, 2024
X Corp. Says InfoWars Social Media Accounts Can't Be Sold
The parent company that owns X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, told a Texas bankruptcy judge that the Chapter 7 trustee in the case of right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones can't sell X accounts tied to Jones and his InfoWars business because they are the property of the social media company.
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November 26, 2024
California's Top Bank, Fintech Regulator To Exit At Year's End
The top banking and fintech regulator for California is departing from the state's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation in a little more than a month, an agency spokesperson told Law360 on Tuesday.
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November 26, 2024
Illinois Landowners Blast FERC Moves On $7B Power Line
The Federal Energy Regulatory unlawfully amended a negotiated rate authority for the $7 billion Grain Belt Express high-voltage power line despite not sanctioning a 2020 change in project ownership, Illinois residents, farmers and landowners told the D.C. Circuit Monday.
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November 26, 2024
Pa. Nursing Home Eying Sale Seeks Fraud Sentencing Delay
The parent company for a troubled Western Pennsylvania nursing home asked a federal court to postpone a sentencing for defrauding state and federal healthcare programs so the company can keep trying to sell the facility, or at least relocate its residents over a longer period of time.
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November 26, 2024
Mass. AG Fines Burger King Franchises Over Labor Violations
The operator of dozens of Burger King franchises in Massachusetts was hit with $2 million in citations for wage and child labor violations, the state attorney general's office announced Tuesday.
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November 26, 2024
FTC Says AI Weapons-Screening Biz Hyped Faulty Scanners
The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday accused Evolv Technologies of making false and unsupported claims that its AI-powered security screening products detect weapons while ignoring harmless personal items.
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November 26, 2024
IRS Confirms Commerce Payments In Chips Tax Credit
Semiconductor development projects that received funding awards from the U.S. Commerce Department's CHIPS incentives program are considered investments that can also take advantage of the advanced manufacturing tax credit, the Internal Revenue Service confirmed Tuesday in guidance.
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November 25, 2024
Ex-Wamco Exec Charged In 'Criminal Cherry-Picking Scheme'
Federal prosecutors have accused Ken Leech, the former chief investment officer of Western Asset Management Co., of participating in a $600 million "criminal cherry-picking scheme" in which he favored certain clients at the expense of others, according to an indictment unsealed Monday in New York federal court.
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November 25, 2024
Geico, Travelers To Pay NY $11.3M To Settle Data Security Row
New York's financial services regulator and attorney general revealed Monday that they've hit Geico and Travelers with $11.3 million in penalties for the auto insurers' alleged failure to adequately secure driver's license numbers, birth dates and other personal information that was compromised as part of a hacking campaign targeting online rate quote tools.
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November 25, 2024
'Shameful': Dems Rip Credit Bureaus Over Scrapped Hearing
Democratic senators on Monday lit into the Big Three credit bureaus for allegedly backing out of preelection commitments to testify last week before the Senate Banking Committee, calling the move "shortsighted and shameful."
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November 25, 2024
SEC Secured Historic $8.2B Enforcement Haul In 2024
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained $8.2 billion in civil penalties and disgorgement via successful enforcement actions in 2024, the highest amount in the history of the agency despite a significant decline in total enforcement actions, the SEC has announced.
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November 25, 2024
Ad Tech Judge Says Google 'Completely Different' From Amex
The Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement business cast doubt Monday on a key element of the company's defense, asserting during closing arguments that the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Amex decision, requiring consideration of two-sided markets, is far removed from Google's ad tech stack.
Expert Analysis
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Compliance Considerations For Calif. Child Labor Audit Law
California employers will need to conduct a fact-intensive analysis to determine whether a new state law that imposes transparency rules for child labor audits applies to their operations, and should look out for regulatory guidance that answers open questions about deadlines and penalties, says Sylvia St. Clair at Faegre Drinker.
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Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures
Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.
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Harris Unlikely To Shelve Biden Admin's Food Antitrust Stance
A look at Vice President Kamala Harris' past record, including her actions as California attorney general, shows why practitioners should prepare for continued aggressive antitrust enforcement, particularly in the food and grocery industries, if Harris wins the presidential election, says Steve Vieux at Bartko.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Navigating HHS' New Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Rule
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new final rule regarding protections for the privacy of reproductive health information will require regulated entities to grapple with difficult questions about whether to comply with state law requirements or federal privacy prohibitions, says Christine Chasse at Spencer Fane.
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Illinois May Be Gearing Up To Ban E-Verify
Recently passed amendments to the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act appear to effectively ban the use of E-Verify in the state, but ambiguity means employers will have to weigh the risks of continued use while also taking note of other work authorization requirements imposed by the updates, say Julie Ratliff and Elizabeth Wellhausen at Taft.
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Breaking Down CFTC's Novel Theory Driving Uniswap Action
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement action against Uniswap concerning digital asset liquidity appears to be a unilateral attempt to expand its regulatory authority in the absence of official congressional approval, putting forth a novel theory of liability that will likely be tested through litigation, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Mental Health Parity Rules: Tips For Plans And Issuers
Following federal agencies' release of final mental health parity rules, plan sponsors and health insurance issuers should develop protocols for preparing compliant nonquantitative treatment limitation comparative analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.
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A Look At 5 States' New Data Privacy Laws
With new data privacy laws in Utah, Florida, Texas, Oregon and Montana recently in effect or coming into force this year, state-level enforcement of data privacy creates significant challenges and risks for how businesses interact with employees and consumers, and for companies that provide and use technologies in multiple jurisdictions, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Politics In California Workplaces: What Employers Must Know
As the election looms, it is critical that California employers ensure their compliance with state laws providing robust protections for employees' political activity — including antidiscrimination laws, off-duty conduct laws, employee voting leave laws and more, say Bradford Kelley and Britney Torres at Littler.
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Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'
The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.