Consumer Protection

  • October 22, 2024

    Buyers Drop Colgate-Palmolive Sunscreen False Ad Suit

    Two women have agreed to drop a proposed class action that claimed Colgate-Palmolive Co. falsely claimed its sunscreen products' only active ingredient is a mineral-based component despite the products containing significant levels of chemical sunscreen ingredients.

  • October 22, 2024

    Ark. Supreme Court Voids Nov. Effort To Expand Medical Pot

    The Arkansas Supreme Court has determined that voters will not get to decide November 5 whether to expand the state's medical marijuana program via a ballot initiative after finding that the title and summary of the proposed constitutional amendment were misleading.

  • October 22, 2024

    Organic Food Group Asks 9th Circ. To Upend GMO Label Rule

    An organic food industry advocacy group urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reverse a district judge decision that largely left a Trump-era organic food labeling rule intact, saying the U.S. Department of Agriculture's implementation of a nationwide labeling law for genetically modified foods has been "arbitrary and capricious."

  • October 22, 2024

    Alaska Flyers Lose Bid to Revive Merger Suit

    The Hawaii federal judge who put the kibosh on a suit that sought to stop Alaska Airlines' $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian Airlines declined to reconsider his finding that the passengers and travel agents bringing the antitrust claims didn't have standing to sue.

  • October 22, 2024

    Appliance Co., Customers Agree To End Stove Pollutant Row

    Luxury kitchen appliance maker Sub-Zero Group Inc. and the customers behind a proposed class action have agreed to drop the litigation, bringing to an end claims the company sold them gas stoves that emit "health-harming" pollutants.

  • October 22, 2024

    Judge Skeptical Amgen Can't Sue Over Colo. Drug Price Caps

    A Colorado federal judge on Tuesday seemed to doubt the state could short-circuit drugmaker Amgen's challenge to the state's drug price cap system, pressing the state to explain why limiting what consumers ultimately pay does not affect what companies like Amgen can charge.

  • October 22, 2024

    DOJ Wants Google's AI Search Docs, Apple Entry Thoughts

    An expansive look into Google's artificial intelligence pipeline and the prospects of Apple entering into the search market are top of mind for the Justice Department as it pursues remedies meant to address the online giant's illegal monopolization of search, according to a D.C. federal court filing Monday.

  • October 22, 2024

    NJ Justices Create Mass Tort Track For Bard Catheter Suits

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has established a multicounty litigation track for cases seeking to hold C.R. Bard Inc., Bard Access Systems Inc. and Becton Dickinson and Co. liable for injuries allegedly caused by Bard implanted port catheter products, according to a notice to the bar.

  • October 22, 2024

    SunTrust Argues Overdraft Fees Didn't Violate Ga. Usury Law

    SunTrust Bank urged the Georgia Court of Appeals on Tuesday to overturn a trial court's denial of summary judgment in a decade-long class action alleging the bank's overdraft fees were unlawful interest charges that violated the state's usury laws, arguing courts overwhelmingly agree that the fees are not interest.

  • October 22, 2024

    Ex-Atty Charged With Stealing Settlement Funds From Clients

    A former attorney who practiced in Oklahoma and gave up his law license in 2020 amid a disciplinary investigation has been charged in federal court with stealing money his then-clients were owed from settlements between 2015 and 2020.

  • October 22, 2024

    Hagens Berman Tells Amazon, Apple: Sure, Sanction Client

    Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is fine with a Washington federal court sanctioning the firm's client — formerly the lead plaintiff — in a putative antitrust class action against Apple and Amazon, saying it shares their goal of compelling document production after the plaintiff ghosted his attorneys.

  • October 22, 2024

    11th Circ. Knocks Class Cert. In Emory COVID Refund Suit

    An Eleventh Circuit panel vacated and remanded a Georgia federal judge's certification of a proposed class of tuition payers in a parent's lawsuit seeking refunds for Emory University's switch to remote learning during the pandemic.

  • October 22, 2024

    EchoStar Blasts SpaceX 12 GHz Study As 'Deeply Flawed'

    Dish owner EchoStar hit back at SpaceX in a new filing with the Federal Communications Commission last week, calling a SpaceX study claiming that Dish's proposed fixed 5G service in the 12 gigahertz band would interfere with existing satellite broadband and broadcast service "deeply flawed" and based on "imaginary interference."

  • October 22, 2024

    FCC Expands FirstNet Spectrum Use In 4.9 GHz Band

    The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday unveiled a controversial plan to expand spectrum rights for AT&T's FirstNet emergency response network in the 4.9 gigahertz airwaves set aside for a wide range of public safety uses.

  • October 22, 2024

    The 2024 Prestige Leaders

    Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.

  • October 22, 2024

    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

  • October 22, 2024

    CFPB's Open Banking Rule Flops With Industry, Lands In Court

    Banks will face new requirements to make account data freely available for consumers to share with fintech firms and other competitors under a long-awaited rule that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled Tuesday, drawing an immediate industry legal challenge seeking to block it.

  • October 21, 2024

    Rocket Mortgage Faces DOJ Suit Alleging Refi Race Bias

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday sued Rocket Mortgage and two appraisal companies in Colorado federal court for allegedly undervaluing a woman's Denver home because she was Black, asserting that the mortgage company then canceled her refinancing application when she reported the alleged discrimination.

  • October 21, 2024

    Mazda Buyers Ask 9th Circ. To Revive Water Pump Defect Suit

    Counsel for a group of Mazda vehicle owners urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to reinstate their putative class action alleging that Mazda sedans and SUVs contain a design defect that results in leaky water pumps, saying a district court judge wrongly found fault with their engineering expert's report and tossed the case.

  • October 21, 2024

    Target Wants Sanctions For 'Bogus' BIPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge should sanction a group of Target customers and their lawyers for pursuing a facial recognition privacy case even though the plaintiffs had seen evidence their legal theory was "bogus," the retail giant says.

  • October 21, 2024

    John Deere's Tractor Brake Recall Is Also Defective, Suit Says

    John Deere sold utility tractors with a brake defect that can cause them to crash, and the company's recent recall doesn't guarantee a permanent fix but rather appears to simply "replace defective systems with even more defective systems," according to a proposed class action in South Carolina federal court.

  • October 21, 2024

    Nissan Fights Uphill To Undo Cert. In Sunroof Defect Fight

    Ninth Circuit judges on Monday doubted Nissan's bid to undo an order certification of a class of drivers who allege the Japanese carmaker sold vehicles with panoramic sunroofs that are prone to shattering, telling Nissan's counsel the appeal appears to challenge the claims' merits, and not whether they could be resolved classwide.

  • October 21, 2024

    FDA Tells Court Menthol Cigarette Ban Is Still Under Review

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it's still evaluating whether to finalize a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, urging a California federal court to throw out a lawsuit that's attempting a "judicial end-run" around the ongoing review.

  • October 21, 2024

    X Corp. 'Sabotaging' Discovery Process, Media Matters Says

    Left-leaning watchdog Media Matters for America says that X Corp. is "jamming the wheels of discovery" by refusing to answer questions or provide documents relating to Elon Musk's role in the site's content moderation, asking a Texas federal court Friday to order X to comply.

  • October 21, 2024

    PBMs Keep Door Open To Constitutional Riposte Against FTC

    Attorneys for Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx kept the door open Monday to challenging the Federal Trade Commission's constitutionality as they face an in-house case accusing the country's three largest pharmacy benefit managers of artificially inflating insulin prices by relying on unfair rebate schemes.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Steps To Address New Sanctions Time Bar Extension

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    Recent guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control clarifies details of the newly extended statute of limitations for civil and criminal enforcement of U.S. sanctions law, so compliance teams should implement key updates, including to lookback periods and recordkeeping policies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss the muted nature of the property and casualty insurance class action space in the second quarter of the year, with no large waves made in labor depreciation and total-loss vehicle class actions, but a new offensive theory emerging for insurance companies.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • What To Expect From CFPB And DOT Card Rewards Inquiry

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    Following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's announcement of joint efforts with the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate credit card rewards points, credit card issuers and airlines should keep a close eye on potential regulatory and class action litigation risks stemming from the inquiry, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Remedy May Be Google's Biggest Hurdle Yet In Antitrust Case

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    There are difficulties ahead in the remedies phase of the antitrust case against Google in District of Columbia federal court, including the search engine giant's scale advantage and the fast-moving nature of the tech industry, setting the stage for the most challenging of the proceedings so far, says Jonathan Rubin at MoginRubin.

  • 3 Ways To Limit Risks Of Black-Box AI In Financial Services

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    As regulators increasingly highlight the potential for artificial intelligence to make unfair consumer credit decisions, and require financial institutions to explain how these so-called black-box algorithms arrive at conclusions, companies should consider three key questions to reduce their regulatory risks from these tools, say Jeffrey Naimon and Caroline Stapleton at Orrick.

  • Takeaways From EU's 'Pay Or Consent' Advertising Probe

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    Anne-Gabrielle Haie and Charles Whiddington at Steptoe examine key points from the European Commission's recent investigation into Big Tech's use of "pay or consent" advertising models, as well as the European Data Protection Board’s opinion on how such models can comply with EU competition and data protection laws.

  • When Banks Unknowingly Become HIPAA Biz Associates

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    There appears to be significant confusion regarding the application of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to financial institutions when serving healthcare-related clients, so these institutions should consider undertaking several steps as a starting point in the effort to achieve compliance, say attorneys at Vorys.

  • From Muppet Heads To OJ's Glove: How To Use Props At Trial

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    Demonstrative graphics have become so commonplace in the courtroom that jurors may start to find them boring, but attorneys can keep jurors engaged and improve their recall by effectively using physical props at trial, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opting In To CIPA Risk Mitigation After New Precedent

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    A recent California federal court decision, adopting a new, broad interpretation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, will likely increase the volume of CIPA claims and should prompt businesses to undertake certain preventative measures, including adopting an opt-in approach to using third-party website advertising technologies, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • CFPB's Earned Wage Access Rule Marks Regulatory Shift

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's newly issued interpretive rule on earned wage access products, classifying them as extensions of credit, marks a significant shift in their regulatory landscape and raises some important questions regarding potential fringe cases and legal challenges, say Erin Bryan and Courina Yulisa at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • What 7th Circ. Samsung Decision Means For Mass Arbitration

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    The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Wallrich v. Samsung highlights the dilemma faced by mass arbitration filers in the face of nonpayment of arbitration fees by the defending party — but also suggests that there are risks for defendants in pursuing such a strategy, says Daniel Campbell at McDermott.

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