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Consumer Protection
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September 11, 2024
FTC Fights Pa. Noncompete Ban Challenger's Pause Bid
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to reject a tree service company's bid to pause its challenge of the agency's noncompete ban, arguing that another district court's decision to set the ban aside nationwide doesn't justify a stay because the agency is mulling an appeal.
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September 11, 2024
Sprout Foods Can't Get 9th Circ. Redo In Baby Food Label Suit
A split Ninth Circuit panel declined Tuesday to rethink its decision that federal law doesn't preempt a couple's California state law claim over allegedly misleading nutrition labels on Sprout Foods baby food labels.
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September 11, 2024
Top Calif. Biz Bills Sitting On Gov. Newsom's Desk
Among the hundreds of bills awaiting California Governor Gavin Newsom's signature are a number that would create new guidelines for Golden State employers, healthcare industry players, as well as artificial intelligence labeling, textile recycling and increasing criminal penalties for corporate malfeasance by tens of millions of dollars.
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September 11, 2024
San Diego Utility Hit With Suit Over Wood Waste Runoff
San Diego Gas & Electric is using a wood treatment mixture on its power poles and in its facilities that includes toxic chemicals that poison the environment and pose a danger to humans and animals nearby, according to a suit filed in California federal court Tuesday.
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September 11, 2024
Health Co. Owes $65M For Breach Of Medical Data, Nude Pics
Pennsylvania-based healthcare company Lehigh Valley Health Network will pay $65 million to individuals who had their private information, including cancer patients' nude images, exposed in a data breach, the plaintiffs' lawyers announced Wednesday.
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September 11, 2024
EasyGroup Loses TMs After Suing For Infringement
A London judge rejected a claim on Wednesday by easyGroup that EasyFundraising Ltd. was infringing its trademarks, as it concluded that the low-cost giant's brands covered different services.
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September 11, 2024
TD Bank To Pay $28M Over Consumer Reporting Failings
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hit TD Bank with a $20 million fine on Wednesday for its failures over inaccurate consumer credit reports and ordered it to pay nearly $8 million to customers, four years after the regulator imposed a $122 million fine against the bank over illegal overdraft fees.
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September 11, 2024
NC Car Parts Biz Racks Up $10M In Fines For Cheat Devices
A North Carolina automotive components business will pay a $2.4 million criminal penalty on top of a $7 million civil fine for dealing devices used to skirt federal vehicle emissions controls, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
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September 10, 2024
Whole Foods, Hain Denied Full 5th Circ. Review In Baby Food Case
The Fifth Circuit on Monday shut down a bid from grocery store chain Whole Foods and international food company Hain Celestial Group for a rehearing of a panel's decision remanding to state court a suit alleging Hain's baby food caused the mental and physical decline of a toddler.
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September 10, 2024
42 AGs Back Call For Social Media Warning Label Law
A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general urged Congress on Tuesday to introduce warning labels on social media platforms in a bid to tackle risks posed to young people's mental health.
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September 10, 2024
Lumen Exits Rural Broadband Program In Parts Of Colo.
Lumen Technologies is backing out of its obligation to deploy broadband in some parts of Colorado and three other states where it won rights to participate in the federal subsidy program to bring internet and voice service to unserved rural homes and small businesses.
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September 10, 2024
Prime Hydration Beats Most Beverage PFAS Claims, For Now
A California federal judge on Monday declined to end a putative class action accusing Prime Hydration of misleadingly marketing its Grape Sports Drink as healthy when it contains so-called "forever chemicals," although she tossed most of the lawsuit's claims with leave to amend.
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September 10, 2024
Cybersecurity Co. Beats Suit Over Med Tech Data Breach
A Massachusetts federal judge declined to hold information security technology company Barracuda Networks Inc. liable over a 2018 data breach that exposed the confidential information of more than 277,000 patients of medical device maker Zoll Medical Corp.
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September 10, 2024
T-Mobile Can't Change 4th Circ. Loss In 'Simply Prepaid' Fight
T-Mobile failed Tuesday to undercut a Fourth Circuit decision that revived a Virginia-based cellphone company's infringement claims over the phrase "Simply Prepaid," with a panel of judges declining to grant the telecommunications giant's request for a second look.
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September 10, 2024
FCC Chair Vows High Court Fight Over Universal Service
Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told educators the agency will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a recent Fifth Circuit decision against the Universal Service Fund, the federal program that subsidizes telecom service to low-income and hard-to-reach areas.
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September 10, 2024
Free Speech Or Bad Medicine? The Abortion 'Reversal' Battle
The marketing of abortion pill "reversal" — a treatment doubted by medical groups but touted by anti-abortion advocates — is facing increased scrutiny from state attorneys general, triggering legal skirmishes in at least four states centered on First Amendment rights and consumer protection laws.
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September 10, 2024
GM Can't Arbitrate Claims Engines Were 'Engineered To Fail'
General Motors LLC cannot arbitrate class claims that certain engines were "engineered to fail," an Ohio federal judge has ruled, citing recent Sixth Circuit guidance on when a party waives the right to resolve disputes out of court.
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September 10, 2024
Top EU Court Upholds €2.4B Google Shopping Fine
The European Court of Justice rejected an appeal from Google on Tuesday challenging a €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) fine for steering users toward its own comparison shopping service, as the tech giant faces mounting pressure from antitrust enforcers at home and abroad.
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September 09, 2024
Yodlee Privacy Class Cert. Bid Faces Uphill Climb
A California federal judge on Monday said she is "inclined" to find that three consumers claiming Yodlee Inc. unlawfully collected their banking data did not have standing to pursue claims or represent proposed classes alleging their transaction information was sold, even though the idea of the stored data is "creepy."
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September 09, 2024
DOJ Says 'Frustrated' Google Ad Tech Customers Are Stuck
The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Virginia federal judge Monday to dismantle Google's hold over the technology used to place online display ads on website publishers' pages, asserting in opening arguments that the search giant has used its power to trap consumers and undermine competitors.
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September 09, 2024
Ex-Lender Says FDIC Can't 'Ignore' Key High Court Precedents
A former small-business financier battling a multimillion-dollar Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. enforcement action has doubled down on his Washington, D.C., federal court challenge to the agency's use of administrative proceedings, saying the regulator must be held to U.S. Supreme Court precedents.
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September 09, 2024
Judge Again Says Yearbook Site Can't Force Arbitration
A Washington federal judge has said the company behind Classmates.com can't force a privacy rights suit into arbitration, in a ruling that determined the plaintiff's attorney opted out of a terms-of-service provision.
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September 09, 2024
NC Dance Teachers Fend Off Injunction Bid In Trademark Feud
A North Carolina charter school can't prevent two former teachers from soliciting students for their dance team using the name "Inspire" amid claims of trademark infringement and false advertising, a federal judge ruled Monday.
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September 09, 2024
Coinbase Notches Some Wins In SEC Discovery Battle
A New York federal judge has granted, and tailored, the "substantial part" of the crypto exchange Coinbase's remaining discovery requests from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the firm abandoned its bid to review personal communications from the agency chair, Gary Gensler.
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September 09, 2024
Lindt Can't Escape Suit Over Heavy Metals In Dark Chocolate
Candymaker Lindt & Sprüngli can't escape claims that its dark chocolate contained dangerous levels of lead and cadmium, a Brooklyn federal judge has ruled, saying the consumers' claims that they paid a premium for allegedly defective products counts as an injury.
Expert Analysis
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Synapse Bankruptcy Has Ripple Effects For Fintech Industry
Synapse Financial Technologies’ recent bankruptcy filing marks a significant moment in the fintech industry's evolution, highlighting that stringent compliance and risk management in fintech partnerships are essential to mitigate risk and protect consumers, say Joann Needleman and Ryan Blumberg at Clark Hill.
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Opinion
Discount Window Reform Needed To Curb Modern Bank Runs
We learned during the spring 2023 failures that bank runs can happen extraordinarily fast in light of modern technology, especially when banks have a greater concentration of large deposits, demonstrating that the antiquated but effective discount window needs to be overhauled before the next crisis, says Cris Cicala at Stinson.
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Mitigating Risks Amid 10-Year Sanctions Enforcement Window
In response to recent legislation, which doubles the statute of limitations for actions related to certain U.S. sanctions and provides regulators greater opportunity to investigate possible violations, companies should take specific steps to account for the increased civil and criminal enforcement risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
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Series
After Chevron: Creating New Hurdles For ESG Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, limiting court deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, could have significant impacts on the future of ESG regulation, creating new hurdles for agency rulemaking around these emerging issues, and calling into question current administrative actions, says Leah Malone at Simpson Thacher.
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California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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How Attorneys Can Reduce Bad Behavior At Deposition
To minimize unprofessional behavior by opposing counsel and witnesses, and take charge of the room at deposition, attorneys should lay out some key ground rules at the outset — and be sure to model good behavior themselves, says John Farrell at Fish & Richardson.
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Best Text Practices In Light Of Terraform's $4.5B Fraud Deal
Text messages were extremely important in a recent civil trial against Terraform Labs, leading to a $4.5 billion settlement, so litigants in securities fraud cases need to have robust mobile data policies that address the content and retention of messages, and the obligations of employees to allow for collection, say Josh Sohn and Alicia Clausen at Crowell & Moring.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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CFPB's New Registration Rule Will Intensify Nonbank Scrutiny
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recently finalized nonbank registration rule aimed at cracking down on repeat offenders poses significant compliance challenges and enforcement risks for nonbank financial firms, and may be particularly onerous for smaller firms, say Ketan Bhirud and Emily Yu at Cozen O'Connor.
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Series
After Chevron: FCC And Industry Must Prepare For Change
The Chevron doctrine was especially significant in the communications sector because of the indeterminacy of federal communications statutes, so the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the doctrine could have big implications for those regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, bringing both opportunities and risks for companies, say Thomas Johnson and Michael Showalter at Wiley.
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Series
After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.