Consumer Protection

  • May 30, 2024

    Terraform, SEC Reach 'Settlement In Principle' In Crypto Case

    Crypto firm Terraform Labs and its creator Do Kwon appear to have reached an agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle remedies after the firm and its founder were held liable for fraud by a Manhattan jury.

  • May 30, 2024

    Target's Surveillance System Violates BIPA, Shoppers Say

    Target faces a proposed class action in Illinois federal court filed Thursday accusing it of gathering shoppers' biometric data through surveillance systems and other sophisticated technology in its campaign to prevent organized retail theft, while failing to advise it is doing so or obtaining their permission.

  • May 30, 2024

    Conn. Judge Axes Pot Dispensary Permit Challenge

    A collection of Stamford, Connecticut, citizens has no right to appeal a court-approved settlement between the city's zoning board and a cannabis company, which allows Sweetspot Stamford LLC to operate a retail dispensary, a state court judge has ruled.

  • May 30, 2024

    Sen. Dems Call On DOJ To Prevent Price-Fixing In Oil Industry

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., led a group of Senate Democrats in calling on the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday to do everything in its power to prevent and prosecute price-fixing and collusion in the oil industry.

  • May 30, 2024

    NY Expects Crypto Cos. To Meet Customer Service Standards

    The New York State Department of Financial Services on Thursday told the crypto firms under its purview that it expects them to resolve customer service issues promptly and fairly, according to newly issued guidance.

  • May 30, 2024

    What To Watch As The FTC Targets Drug Patent Listings

    The Federal Trade Commission has been scrutinizing patents listed by drugmakers on a key federal database, warning several companies that their listings are improper and drive up drug prices. Here's a look at what the agency and others could do next.

  • May 30, 2024

    KKR's $24B NetCo Buy Gets EU Regulatory Approval

    The European Commission said Thursday it has approved KKR & Co.'s planned $23.7 billion acquisition of NetCo from Italian telecommunications provider TIM Group, paving the way for the close of one of the largest deals announced last year. 

  • May 30, 2024

    Mich. Judge Refers Atty To Calif. Bar Over Flint PR Stunt

    A Michigan federal judge overseeing contaminated drinking water litigation in Flint, Michigan, referred a California attorney to that state's bar on Thursday after the lawyer refused to provide more details, or submit to the court's jurisdiction, over her involvement in an alleged smear campaign targeting a lawyer for Flint children.

  • May 30, 2024

    NCAA To End Transfer Rules In Deal With DOJ

    The NCAA agreed on Thursday to stop enforcing all rules governing athletes transferring from one institution to another, as part of a proposed consent decree filed by the U.S. Department of Justice to settle an antitrust suit against the organization by 10 states and the District of Columbia.

  • May 30, 2024

    ExamSoft, Bar Examiners Face $2M Software Crash Claims

    A 68-year-old former paralegal who hopes to become a pro bono attorney has sued the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee and ubiquitous bar exam test-taking software vendor ExamSoft Worldwide Inc. for $2 million, claiming three software crashes stymied her ability to take a exam offered remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • May 30, 2024

    Sen. Warren Pushes CMS On 'Medical Loss Ratio' Data

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to collect more data to determine whether private healthcare insurers in Medicare Advantage that employ vertical integration are evading a statutory requirement that they spend the bulk of their earnings on medical claims.

  • May 30, 2024

    Bottler Says It's Owed Defense In Wine Contamination Dispute

    A wine bottler told a California federal court its insurer must reimburse defense costs it incurred while fighting a now-settled suit seeking to hold the company liable for a $1.2 million wine contamination, arguing the lawsuit didn't specifically allege what the bottler's actions were nor the cause of contamination.

  • May 30, 2024

    Data Co. Exec, Worker Guilty Of Fraud In Mail Scam Case

    A Colorado federal jury on Thursday convicted two former Epsilon Data Management employees for their roles in selling data to mail scammers who preyed on the elderly and vulnerable.

  • May 30, 2024

    High Court Calls For 2nd Circ. Redo In BofA Preemption Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a Second Circuit decision that freed Bank of America NA from class action litigation brought over a New York escrow interest law, ruling that the circuit court wasn't "nuanced" enough in finding the law preempted for national banks.

  • May 29, 2024

    Amazon Shouldn't Escape BIPA Suit, Judge Recommends

    A Washington federal magistrate judge on Wednesday recommended that the court should not toss a suit alleging Amazon.com Inc. collected facial scans of teens playing a popular video game without proper disclosures or consent, saying the plaintiff sufficiently alleges that Amazon knowingly obtained the data and disseminated it.

  • May 29, 2024

    Feds Dismantle Massive Botnet, Arrest Malware's Admin

    Following an investigation by law enforcement in the U.S., Singapore, Thailand and Germany, the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced it has dismantled a botnet used in cyberattacks, child exploitation, massive fraud and export violations, and arrested a Chinese national behind the malware.

  • May 29, 2024

    CFPB Says Citi 'Wrong' On Wire Transfer Rules In NY Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is backing New York's attorney general in a lawsuit accusing Citibank NA of failing to adequately protect customers from online wire transfer fraud, arguing the bank is "wrong" about what rules govern its obligations to scam victims.

  • May 29, 2024

    Spotify Listeners Slam Scrapped Music Device As 'Paperweight'

    Spotify has suddenly decided to shut down its "Car Thing" device, which connects listeners' playlists to their cars, making the devices obsolete and leaving customers "with nothing more than a paperweight that cost between $50 and $100," according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday in New York federal court.

  • May 29, 2024

    5th Circ. Sends Hain Toxic Baby Food Suit To State Court

    Grocery store chain Whole Foods Market Inc. and international food company Hain Celestial Group Inc. can't escape a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for the mental and physical decline of a toddler, allegedly caused by tainted baby food they sold, the Fifth Circuit ruled, saying the case was improperly removed to federal court.

  • May 29, 2024

    Visa, Mastercard Consumers Ink $197.5M ATM Antitrust Deal

    A pair of Visa and Mastercard consumers asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday to greenlight a $197.5 million class settlement that would resolve claims that the credit card companies conspired with major banks to fix ATM access fees.

  • May 29, 2024

    Pot Co. Stiiizy Accused Of Marketing Unsafe High-THC Wares

    California cannabis giant Stiiizy has been accused of marketing dangerous high-potency THC products to young people, allegedly resulting in cannabis-induced psychosis in one user who brought a product liability and fraud suit Wednesday in Northern California state court.

  • May 29, 2024

    Texas Securities Regulator Orders Crypto MLM To Shut Down

    Texas State Securities Board Commissioner Travis J. Iles has ordered the shutdown of an allegedly fraudulent Arkansas-based multilevel marketing scheme that claimed to offer investments in cloud mining cryptocurrency.

  • May 29, 2024

    NC State Is Blocking Probe Of PCBs In Building, Court Told

    North Carolina State University is trying to exploit the judicial process in order to destroy evidence of building contamination, a cancer-stricken professor told a state appeals court Tuesday in a bid to advance plans for a carcinogen inspection.

  • May 29, 2024

    Microsoft's Post-Merger Layoffs Cited In I-Told-You-So Appeal

    A private group of gamers is pointing to Microsoft's recent layoffs of 1,900 Activision and XBox employees as evidence of market harms stemming from Microsoft Corp.'s acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc., as the group seeks to revive a private antitrust suit challenging the merger in the Ninth Circuit.

  • May 29, 2024

    Google, Apple Say Nothing New To Revive Search Pact Suit

    Google and Apple urged a California federal judge not to revive a private lawsuit accusing Google of paying Apple not to produce its own search engine, arguing the consumers have nothing new in citing months-old revelations from the Justice Department's search monopolization case against Google.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation

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    Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • Opinion

    CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking

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    In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.

  • FDIC Bank Disclosure Rules Raise Important Questions

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s new rules mandating disclosures for nonbanks offering deposit products leave traditional financial institutions in a no-man's land between fintech-oriented requirements and the reality of personal service demanded by customers, say Paul Clark and Casey Jennings at Seward & Kissel.

  • Setting Goals For Kicking Corruption Off FIFA World Cup Field

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    The unprecedented tri-country nature of the 2026 men's World Cup will add to the complexity of an already complicated event, but best practices can help businesses stay on the right side of anti-corruption rules during this historic competition, say Sandra Moser and ​​​​​​​Emily Ahdieh at Morgan Lewis.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s spring 2024 consumer compliance supervisory report found that relatively few institutions had significant consumer compliance issues last year, but the common thread among those that did were inadequacies or failures in disclosures to consumers, says Matthew Hanaghan at Nutter.

  • Online Portal Helps Fortify Feds' Unfair Health Practices Fight

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    The Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched an online portal where the public can report potentially unfair healthcare practices, effectively maximizing enforcers' abilities to police anti-competitive actions that can drive up healthcare costs and chill innovation, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • Key Issues Raised By Colorado's Brain Data Privacy Bill

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    Colorado recently became the first state to provide consumer privacy protections for data generated from a person's brain waves, and despite the bill’s ambiguity and open questions introduced, the new law has helped turn the spotlight on neurodata, says Sara Pullen Guercio at Alston & Bird.

  • Birkin Bag Case Carries Competition Lessons For Retailers

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    A recently proposed antitrust class action alleging that Hermès violated federal and California law when selling its iconic Birkin and Kelly handbags highlights some issues that other brands and retailers should consider, particularly given a prevailing landscape that seems to prioritize antitrust scrutiny, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Expect Tougher Bank Exams 1 Year After Spring 2023 Failures

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    With federal banking agencies still implementing harsher examinations with swifter escalations a year after the spring 2023 bank failures, banks can gain insight into changing expectations by monitoring how the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are coordinating and updating their exam policies, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Breaking Down EPA's Rule On PFAS In Drinking Water

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    Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the first enforceable federal drinking water regulation for PFAS, which, along with reporting and compliance requirements for regulated entities, will have a number of indirect effects, including increased cleanup costs and the possible expansion of existing Superfund sites, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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