Consumer Protection

February 26, 2025
DOJ Says RealPage Can't Ditch Antitrust Claims

The U.S. Department of Justice and a group of states are urging a North Carolina federal judge to reject a move by RealPage Inc. and a group of landlords to escape claims that use of the company's software paves the way for collusion on setting rental prices.
February 26, 2025
Judge Won't Disqualify Firm In Solar Co. Fraud Fight

A federal judge denied Michigan residents' attempt to disqualify attorneys representing a bankrupt solar company's former founding CEO in their fraud case, holding that the law firm's allegedly obstructionist discovery tactics don't amount to an actual conflict of interest.
February 26, 2025
CVS Ordered To Comply With FTC's PBM Subpoena

A D.C. federal judge is ordering CVS to turn over new materials in the Federal Trade Commission's investigation into its pharmacy benefit manager Caremark Rx, saying that just because producing updated documents would cost the company more doesn't mean it faces an "undue burden."
February 26, 2025
Mass. High Court Reaffirms No Private Right To Atty Discipline

Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday reaffirmed that there is no private right of action to compel the state bar to open an investigation or disciplinary proceedings.
February 25, 2025
Retailer Pushes To Ax 2,400 Web Tracking Arbitration Claims

Children's clothing retailer Janie & Jack LLC is attempting to stave off more than 2,400 arbitration claims filed by individuals over the company's allegedly unlawful website tracking practices, telling a California federal court that the website visitors are "weaponizing" an arbitration agreement that doesn't even apply to them.
February 25, 2025
DC Judge Blocks Trump's Federal Funding Freeze

A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from implementing a federal spending freeze while a group of nonprofits challenge the freeze, calling the measure "ill-conceived from the beginning."
February 25, 2025
Total High Speed Coverage In Alaska 'Not Realistic,' FCC Told

The Alaska Connect Fund sets unrealistic standards for bringing high-speed internet to the state, a telecom operating in Alaska told the Federal Communications Commission at a recent meeting where it urged the agency to lower its expectation.
February 25, 2025
GreenSky Loan Class Action Certified In Calif. Court

A California federal judge has granted class certification to consumers suing GreenSky Inc. over alleged unlawful loan transaction fees, finding that expert analysis showed merchants likely passed these fees onto borrowers, but also granted summary judgment to the lending company on claims related to performance fees over the lack of evidence that consumers had to pay them.
February 25, 2025
Trump Admin Says 'There Will Continue To Be A CFPB'

The Trump administration denied late Monday that it is planning to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, telling a D.C. federal judge that it had closed the agency's headquarters and benched employees instead partly due to their own "disruptive protests."
February 25, 2025
Block Considers NY Settlement Over Money-Laundering Curbs

Block Inc., the parent company of the peer-to-peer mobile payments platform Cash App and payments platform Square, is working to resolve allegations from New York state's financial regulator touching on its compliance with money-laundering restrictions, the company says.
February 25, 2025
Sig Sauer Asks 6th Circ. For Second Shot At Expert Ruling

The full Sixth Circuit should disqualify expert testimony that said gunmaker Sig Sauer Inc. failed to use existing safety features found in rival products when designing its model P320, the pistol at the center of many unintentional discharge lawsuits, according to the company's petition, which alternatively asked the judges to send it to Kentucky's top court.
February 25, 2025
GoDaddy, Tech Co. Quietly Agree To Kill Antitrust Suit

The world's largest domain registrar, GoDaddy, has come to terms with the company behind an antitrust suit claiming that it blackballed the tech company from its platform, according to documents filed recently in Virginia federal court.
February 25, 2025
Alex Jones Asks To Maintain Stay On Sandy Hook Payment

Infowars founder Alex Jones told the Connecticut Appellate Court that he shouldn't be forced to pay the judgment that Sandy Hook families won in their long-running defamation case as he awaits a review by the state's Supreme Court, saying the plaintiffs are wrong that he discarded underlying constitutional arguments.
February 25, 2025
Cannabis Cos. Want THC Potency Suits Consolidated

About two dozen cannabis companies, including multistate operators like Columbia Care and Acreage, have urged an Illinois federal judge to consolidate a series of "nearly identical" proposed class actions accusing them of mislabeling their products to get around state-mandated THC potency limits, saying "there is no question" the suits "involve the same questions of law and fact."
February 25, 2025
Meta Says 9th Circ. Shouldn't Touch Antitrust Cert. Denial

The Ninth Circuit should refuse to take up the appeal of a proposed class that was denied certification due to its novel theory that Meta Platforms Inc. would have been forced to pay users for the use of their data if it hadn't lied about how it was using it, the social media behemoth has told the court.
February 25, 2025
Fla. Bill Targets Last-Resort Coverage For Unsafe Condos

A bill introduced ahead of Florida's 2025 legislative session looks to bar the state's Citizens Property Insurance Corp. from providing or renewing coverage policies for condominiums that fall short of inspection requirements.
February 25, 2025
Another Crypto Co. Says SEC Inquiry Ends Without Action

Decentralized finance platform Uniswap Labs announced Tuesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission closed its multi-year investigation into the firm, marking the latest crypto business to claim the regulator is walking away without taking action.
February 25, 2025
River Agency Says Harvey Flood Dispute Was Already Decided

A Texas river management agency urged a state appeals court Tuesday to shut down claims brought by dozens of residents whose properties were flooded by Hurricane Harvey, pointing to a separate appellate court decision that ended similar claims by many of the same people.
February 25, 2025
Kroger Seeks More Sanctions For Prolific Consumer Atty

Kroger is urging an Illinois federal judge to sanction prolific consumer advocate lawyer Spencer Sheehan for filing a meritless suit over the effectiveness of its lidocaine patches, citing his "history of filing frivolous lawsuits across the nation" and a "troubling pattern of recklessness and abuse of the federal judiciary" for which he has been sanctioned three other times.
February 25, 2025
Petrochemical Cos. Want Judge Out Of Plastic Recycling Row

Petrochemical companies called on a Missouri federal judge to recuse himself from a proposed class action accusing them of misleading customers about the recyclability of plastic, saying his wife has a direct interest in the case as a Kansas City city council member.
February 25, 2025
Ex-Privacy Board Members Sue Trump Over Firings

Two Democrats who had served on Congress' privacy watchdog over the executive branch's counterterrorism policies are suing the Trump administration, claiming they were illegally fired from the nonpartisan board to deny it a quorum and end its oversight.
February 25, 2025
FTC Probing $615M Healthcare Staffing Merger

Talent software and staffing company Aya Healthcare Inc.'s roughly $615 million bid to buy Cross Country Healthcare Inc. and take the staffing and recruitment company private hit a snag last week with a Federal Trade Commission merger probe that prevents the transaction from closing, for now.
February 25, 2025
Rural Wireless Cos. Concerned About 5G Fund Rollout

A rural wireless group renewed pressure on the Federal Communications Commission to change up the timing of an auction to expand 5G service, saying the FCC should wait until federal infrastructure dollars are distributed before moving ahead.
February 25, 2025
FTC Wins Discovery Spat In Amazon Prime Subscription Suit

A Washington federal judge won't force the Federal Trade Commission to share with Amazon discussions during past rulemaking about the scope of a federal law protecting online shoppers from deceptive billing, concluding for a second time that such information is irrelevant to whether the company's Prime subscription practices are illegal.
February 25, 2025
Agri Stats Can't Avoid Price-Fixing Deposition, DOJ Says

The U.S. Department of Justice is calling on Agri Stats' top executives to face deposition in the agency's price-fixing case, telling a Minnesota federal judge that the company's brass can't avoid questioning just because they were deposed in private suits years ago.

Expert Analysis

Takeaways From SEC's Mixed Results In '24 Crypto Litigation

Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership seems likely to create a more favorable cryptocurrency regulatory environment, it must also confront the consequences of, and lingering questions raised by, the SEC's 2024 policy of investigating and charging cryptocurrency trading platforms for operating unregistered exchanges, say attorneys at Dechert.
Opinion

Aviation Watch: How Court Nixed Boeing Plea Deal Over DEI

A Texas federal court's rejection of the plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing over the 737 Max aircraft gratuitously injected the court's views on diversity, equity and inclusion into a case that shouldn't have been a criminal matter in the first place, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
Reviewing The High Court's Approach To Free Speech Online

As the U.S. Supreme Court began addressing the interplay between the First Amendment and online social media platforms, its three opinions from last term show the justices adopting a nuanced approach that recognizes that private citizens, public employees and online platforms all have First Amendment rights, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
Series

In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line

The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.
3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
Searching For Insight On Requested Google Chrome Remedy

The potential for Google to divest its Chrome browser — a remedy requested by the Justice Department following a D.C. federal court’s finding the company is a monopolist — has drawn both criticism and endorsement, but legal precedent likely supports the former, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
Consultants Should Be Aware Of DOJ's Potential New Reach

The U.S. Department of Justice's recent first-of-its-kind settlement with McKinsey & Co. indicates not only the DOJ's more aggressive stance toward businesses' potential criminal wrongdoings, but also the benefits of self-disclosure and cooperation when wrongdoing becomes apparent, says Dom Caamano at Kibler Fowler.
New Year, New Risks: 8 Top Cyber Issues For Finance In 2025

As financial institutions forge ahead in 2025, they must strike a delicate balance between embracing technological innovation and guarding against its darker threats, which this year could include everything from supply chain vulnerabilities to deepfakes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
How Changes In State Gift Card Laws May Affect Cos. In 2025

2024 state legislative movements around the escheatment of unused gift card balances and consumer fraud protections should prompt issuers to consider whether changes in company domicile or blanket cash-back policies are needed in the new year, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
Lessons From The SEC's 2024 Crackdown On AI Washing

AI washing was the subject of increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 following a surge in the commercial adoption of generative artificial intelligence technologies in 2023, highlighting the importance of transparency, accuracy and accountability when communicating about AI, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
The 6 Most Significant FCRA Litigation Developments Of 2024

From a key sovereign immunity decision at the U.S. Supreme Court to a ruling on creditworthiness out of the Seventh Circuit, several important Fair Credit Reporting Act cases wound their way through the courts in 2024, each offering takeaways for both plaintiffs and defendants, say attorneys at Shipkevich.
Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery

Excerpt from Practical Guidance

Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.