Consumer Protection

  • November 05, 2024

    Binance Says New SEC Complaint Suffers Same Old Flaws

    Cryptocurrency exchange Binance told a Washington, D.C., federal judge the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can't continue to argue that secondary sales of digital assets are securities transactions in its enforcement suit against the trading platform after the regulator acquiesced that the tokens themselves aren't investment contracts.

  • November 05, 2024

    Amazon Bashes Wash. Supreme Court's Price-Gouging Ruling

    Amazon urged a Washington federal judge Monday to toss an updated proposed consumer class action alleging price gouging during the pandemic, saying the claims remain overly broad and the Washington Supreme Court's interpretation of the state's consumer protection law is unconstitutionally vague.

  • November 05, 2024

    Edge Providers Say Data Centers Key To Network Growth

    Data centers will be buzzing with ever more activity in the coming years, and edge providers like Netflix and Amazon want to make sure that U.S. agencies keep up with the network traffic flow, according to a new filing from their national trade group.

  • November 05, 2024

    Target Inks Individual Deals Over 'Non-Drowsy' Flu Medicine

    Target Corp. has reached individual settlements with three consumers who launched a proposed class action alleging its over-the-counter cold and flu medicine is misleadingly labeled as "non-drowsy" despite containing an ingredient known to cause sleepiness, according to a Minnesota federal judge's order.

  • November 05, 2024

    Conagra Settles False Ad Suit Over 'Sustainable' Fish

    Conagra and a proposed class of consumers have settled a suit accusing the food giant of deceptively labeling its seafood products as sustainable despite using ocean-harming methods to source them, according to a minute order entered Tuesday.

  • November 05, 2024

    Some Hertz Del. Insurance Claims Tossed In False Arrest Saga

    A Delaware state judge has branded as "unreasonable" and based on "contractual gymnastics" Hertz Corp. arguments for aggregating separate settlements to limit its retained liability payout duty before insurance picks up the balance of customer wrongful arrest suit settlements.

  • November 05, 2024

    Meta Owed No Coverage For Social Media MDL, Hartford Says

    Two Hartford units told a Delaware state court they should have no duty to defend Meta Platforms Inc., parent of Facebook and Instagram, against numerous lawsuits accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to be addictive to adolescents and concealing its harmful effects on them. 

  • November 05, 2024

    GOP Sens. Say NTIA 'Distorting' US Broadband Access

    Senate Republicans are accusing Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris of "manipulating census data" to conceal the number of people using satellite internet, in their latest attack on the Biden administration and Harris, who they have dubbed the "broadband czar."

  • November 05, 2024

    Dems Push Insurance Regulators To Tackle Hurricane Fraud

    Three Democrats on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, including ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, sent letters to insurance regulators in the states hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton urging them to do more to prevent fraud and dishonesty from insurers looking to avoid covering damages.

  • November 05, 2024

    4 Golf Course Data Breach Suits Consolidated In Illinois

    Four separate proposed class actions alleging an Illinois-based golf course operator failed to protect customers' information following a data breach have been consolidated and will be heard in front of the same federal judge.

  • November 05, 2024

    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

  • November 04, 2024

    How The Election Results Could Shape Data Privacy Policy

    The outcome of Tuesday's national elections will have a significant effect on the direction of efforts to regulate companies' collection and sale of consumer data, with the winners expected to dictate how aggressive an approach federal policymakers and regulators such as the Federal Trade Commission will take.

  • November 04, 2024

    Robinhood Users Denied Class Cert. In Order Flow Suit

    A proposed class of Robinhood customers must run their expert's damages model before asking a California federal judge to weigh their class certification bid in litigation alleging that the investing platform failed to disclose financial interests affecting order flow on the platform.

  • November 04, 2024

    Monsanto Can't Keep Expert PCB Estimates From Seattle Jury

    A Washington state judge has slapped down Monsanto's bid to stop a plaintiffs' expert from sharing chemical exposure opinions with jurors in a Seattle PCB poisoning tort, saying on Monday that the company's stance that the testimony is "junk science" relies on an outdated record in a related Court of Appeals case.

  • November 04, 2024

    Lemon Law Doesn't Cover Used Cars, Calif. Justices Say

    The California Supreme Court has overturned nearly 30 years of precedent and held that the state's lemon law does not cover used cars when the vehicle has an unexpired manufacturer's warranty, delivering a victory to automaker FCA that its attorney said would end thousands of potential lawsuits.

  • November 04, 2024

    Sanctions Lessened Against Testing Co. That 'Duped' Judge

    A California federal judge Monday lessened sanctions imposed on Natera Inc. in a false advertising case first brought by rival Guardant Health Inc., allowing some clinical cancer study evidence to be presented at a trial starting Tuesday despite his earlier finding that Natera's expert and counsel had "duped" the court.

  • November 04, 2024

    'Oh, Come On': 5th Circ. Doubts Intuit Ads Misled Consumers

    The Fifth Circuit on Monday seemed skeptical that the company behind TurboTax duped customers into thinking they could file their tax returns for free, with judges engaging in a lengthy back-and-forth with the Federal Trade Commission over how noticeable disclosures on the ads had to be for the agency to consider them truthful.

  • November 04, 2024

    Apple Hid Audio Defects In 1st-Gen AirPods Pro, Users Say

    Audio defects in the first generation of Apple's AirPods Pro did not stop the company from touting the wireless earbud's superior sound quality and noise-canceling features, consumers from Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio alleged in a proposed false advertising class action filed Friday in California federal court.

  • November 04, 2024

    Microsoft Wants To Weigh In On Google Play Store Challenge

    Microsoft has asked the Ninth Circuit to allow it to file an amicus brief backing Epic Games in Google's challenge to an injunction requiring Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores, arguing that the search giant's policies have prevented Microsoft from offering "mobile gaming experiences customers want."

  • November 04, 2024

    Debt Collectors Sue Over CFPB's Guidance On Medical Debt

    A debt collection trade group has sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C., federal court to overturn recent guidance that warned collectors about seeking payment on potentially inflated or unverified medical bills, slamming it as an "overtly political" end-run around proper rulemaking.

  • November 04, 2024

    Amazon Says DC Antitrust Suit Full Of 'Mischaracterizations'

    Amazon hit back Friday against the District of Columbia's amended antitrust complaint, arguing that the business practices the city claims are diminishing competition and inflating prices for consumers are actually doing the opposite — rewarding competition — and claiming that retail competition is "vigorous" both online and in person.

  • November 04, 2024

    Crypto Industry Hopes Election Will Bring SEC Shake-Up

    The White House is poised to take a fresh approach to the digital asset industry regardless of who wins the presidency, but experts said the crypto industry's hopes for more rules and fewer enforcement cases ultimately depend on a new head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a renewed push from Congress to pass crypto legislation.

  • November 04, 2024

    Patent Co. Looks To Combine Antitrust Case With Consumers

    Patent-holding company VoIP-Pal.com is asking a D.C. federal judge to consolidate, at least for pre-trial purposes, its own Wi-Fi calling antitrust suit against Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile with a proposed class action it launched making many of the same claims.

  • November 04, 2024

    Coinme Crypto ATMs Suspended By Conn. Banking Chief

    Connecticut's banking commissioner has suspended cryptocurrency ATM company Coinme Inc.'s ability to transfer money in the Constitution State and has hinted toward possible fines, citing violations of know-your-consumer laws, complaints of scams, a negative multistate investigation and failures to meet minimum capitalization laws.

  • November 04, 2024

    Philly DA Can't Stop Elon Musk's $1M Giveaway To Voters

    A Pennsylvania judge on Monday denied Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's bid to halt Elon Musk's $1 million giveaway to registered voters leading up to the 2024 presidential election, issuing a one-page order ending the prosecutor's claims that the tech mogul was operating an illegal lottery.

Expert Analysis

  • How 3rd Circ. Raised Bar For Constitutional Case Injunctions

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    The Third Circuit's decision in Delaware State Sportsmen's Association v. Delaware Department of Safety & Homeland Security, rejecting the relaxed preliminary injunction standards many courts have used when plaintiffs allege constitutional harms, could portend a shift in such cases in at least four ways, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • 7th Circ. Ruling Expands CFPB Power In Post-Chevron Era

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Townstone Financial interprets the Equal Credit Opportunity Act broadly, paving the way for increased CFPB enforcement and hinting at how federal courts may approach statutory interpretation in the post-Chevron world, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • Opinion

    Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis

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    For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.

  • What's In NYDFS Guidance On Use Of AI In Insurance

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    Matthew Gaul and Shlomo Potesky at Willkie summarize the New York Department of Financial Services' recently adopted circular letter on the use of artificial intelligence in insurance underwriting and pricing, and highlight the material changes made to it in response to comments on the draft circular letter.

  • Drip Pricing Exemption Isn't A Free Pass For Calif. Eateries

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    A new exemption relieves California bars and restaurants from the recently effective law banning prices that don't reflect mandatory fees and charges — but such establishments aren't entirely off the hook for drip pricing, due to uncertainty over disclosure requirements and pending federal junk fee regulations, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Opinion

    Data Breach Reporting Requirements Must Change In AI Age

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    Outdated data breach reporting laws are inadequate to protect consumers in the age of artificial intelligence, as AI’s ability to determine relationships coupled with its improvements to deepfake technology mean that the very definitions used in breach reporting laws are no longer sufficient, says Collin Walke at Hall Estill.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • What To Know As Children's Privacy Law Rapidly Evolves

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    If your business hasn't been paying attention to growing state and federal efforts to protect children online, now is the time to start — there is no sign of this regulation slowing down, and more aggressive enforcement actions are to be expected in the coming year, says Susan Rohol at Willkie Farr.

  • What Cos. Should Know About New Global Plastics Regs

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    As the global regulatory landscape for plastics and recycling changes rapidly — with new policies coming into effect in California, at the federal level, in the European Union and at the United Nations — businesses that operate across jurisdictions must stay informed to remain compliant, mitigate legal risk and achieve stewardship goals, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Dissecting Treasury's Call For Input On AI In Financial Sector

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    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's request for comments on the potential benefits and challenges AI may pose to the financial services sector, which asks how stakeholders are addressing and mitigating increased fraud risks, reflects the federal government's continued interest in AI's effects across the economy, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Opinion

    The FTC Needs To Challenge The Novo-Catalent Deal

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    Novo's acquisition of Catalent threatens to substantially lessen competition in the manufacturing and marketing of GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drugs, and the Federal Trade Commission should challenge it under a vertical theory of harm, as it aligns with last year's merger guidelines and the Fifth Circuit decision in Illumina, says attorney David Balto.

  • Md. Deal Highlights Consumer Finance Program Regulations

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    Maryland regulators’ recent settlement with the Bank of Missouri and its consumer lending partners, Atlanticus and Fortiva, offers a reminder that it is important to properly structure such partnerships and conduct sufficient due diligence on state licensing requirements, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

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