Consumer Protection

  • October 30, 2024

    Gulfstream Arbitration Notice To Worker Adequate, Court Says

    Jet manufacturer Gulfstream Aerospace's use of a hyperlink to the terms of its arbitration requirement for employee disputes was adequate notice to a worker who later tried to sue, an intermediate Massachusetts appellate court said Wednesday.

  • October 29, 2024

    Monsanto PCBs 'Pervasive' At School, Scientist Tells Jury

    Monsanto-made PCBs were "pervasive" at a Washington school, an industrial hygienist testified Tuesday in the latest trial over illnesses there before being grilled by defense counsel about the integrity of his material samples.

  • October 29, 2024

    NY Judge Tosses $14B Decongestant MDL

    A New York federal judge threw out a streamlined complaint in a multidistrict litigation accusing companies such as Target and Bayer of making and selling ineffective over-the-counter decongestants, finding Tuesday the state claims are expressly preempted, and the proposed class lacks standing on a federal racketeering claim as indirect purchasers.

  • October 29, 2024

    NY Health Provider To Boost Data Security To End AG's Probe

    An Albany-based healthcare provider has agreed to pay $2.75 million in penalties and data security enhancements to resolve the New York attorney general's claims it failed to protect private medical data that was exposed in a pair of 2023 cyberattacks, the regulator said Tuesday. 

  • October 29, 2024

    DOJ Will Restrict Data Swapping With 'Countries Of Concern'

    The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed new rules that will make it the regulator of any type of transaction that would put certain kinds of sensitive privacy data in the hands of any "covered persons" or "country of concern."

  • October 29, 2024

    Wells Fargo Fights To Ax Suit Over Identify Fraud Accounts

    Wells Fargo urged a California federal judge Tuesday to toss a proposed class action accusing the bank of violating the Fair Credit Report Act by accessing consumers' credit reports after fraudsters applied to open accounts with stolen information, saying Wells Fargo followed industry standards and the alleged damages are "conclusory."

  • October 29, 2024

    BofA Faces Scrutiny Of AML Program, Zelle Payment Handling

    Bank of America Corp. disclosed Tuesday that its anti-money laundering program is a focus of ongoing "discussions" with federal regulators and said it is mulling litigation with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over a potential enforcement action related to digital payment network Zelle.

  • October 29, 2024

    Retired Fed. Circ. Judge Backs Invisalign In Monopoly Cases

    Retired Federal Circuit Judge Paul R. Michel warned the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that reversing a lower court's decision to toss a pair of class actions accusing Invisalign of monopolizing the clear braces and teeth scanners market by illegally refusing to deal with a rival would increase patent owners' legal uncertainties.

  • October 29, 2024

    Judge Extends Block On Florida's Threats Over Abortion Ad

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday extended a temporary order blocking the state from threatening television stations with criminal prosecution if they did not pull a campaign ad promoting an abortion rights ballot initiative.

  • October 29, 2024

    Canadian Co. Owes $7.5M Default Judgment In Toxic Mud Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has awarded a nationwide class of customers more than $7.5 million in damages in litigation alleging Canadian company BlackOxygen sold them mud-based nutritional supplements containing harmful levels of toxic heavy metals after the company failed to respond to their claims.

  • October 29, 2024

    NY Judge Says Law Sealing Illicit Pot Shops Unconstitutional

    A New York state judge ruled Tuesday that a newly enacted New York City law empowering municipal officials to shut down stores selling unlicensed marijuana products is unconstitutional.

  • October 29, 2024

    FCC, Calif. Agency To Team Up To Protect Privacy

    The Federal Communications Commission is going to be teaming up with one of California's consumer protection agencies to enforce privacy rights in the Golden State, the pair announced Tuesday.

  • October 29, 2024

    Rumble Pushes To Join Google Ad Tech MDL

    Video-sharing site Rumble has told the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that its case accusing Google of monopolizing key digital advertising technology should be included in the consolidated litigation pending against the tech giant in New York.

  • October 29, 2024

    Merger Guides In Fashion As Court Pauses Handbag Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission scored a major win last week with a court order pausing the planned $8.5 billion merger between the owners of Coach and Michael Kors, but the ruling stopped short of fully embracing enforcers' recent attempts to influence merger law.

  • October 29, 2024

    US Finalizes Investment Ban On Chinese Emerging Tech

    The Biden administration finalized plans to ban U.S. investors from funding emerging Chinese technology, saying the restrictions are necessary to prevent Beijing from advancing technologies critical to its military modernization campaign. 

  • October 29, 2024

    Epic Urges 9th Circ. Not To Pause Google Play Store Fixes

    Epic Games Inc. has fired back against Google's request the Ninth Circuit issue an emergency stay pausing a lower court's antitrust injunction that would require Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores, slamming Google's arguments as "scattershot," misleading and legally unfounded.

  • October 29, 2024

    Accellion Can't Nix Data Breach Suit Over Outdated Software

    A California federal judge refused to end a proposed data breach class action accusing Accellion of negligently failing to protect against cyberattacks on its file-sharing software, ruling that a special relationship exists between Accellion and its customers, such that it owed a duty of care to them.

  • October 29, 2024

    McDonald's Catches New Suits Over E. Coli Outbreak

    McDonald's Corp. is facing two new lawsuits over an outbreak of E. coli linked to its Quarter Pounder hamburgers, including a proposed class action filed Tuesday in Illinois federal court accusing the fast-food giant of misrepresenting to customers that its hamburgers were safe to consume.

  • October 29, 2024

    Crypto Co. Consensys CEO Slams SEC In Announcing Layoffs

    Blockchain software firm Consensys on Tuesday announced a round of layoffs affecting 20% of its staff that it says was driven in part by a costly legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but a spokesperson confirmed to Law360 that the firm's legal department wasn't part of the reduction.

  • October 29, 2024

    Republic First Bank Discriminated Before It Failed, NJ Says

    New Jersey authorities said Tuesday that they have concluded that the former Republic First Bank redlined local communities of color in the state in the years before it failed, findings they have taken up with the bank's receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

  • October 29, 2024

    4th Circ. Quizzes Drugmaker Challenging W.Va. Abortion Law

    An attorney arguing that West Virginia is preempted by federal law from restricting access to an abortion medication faced skeptical questions Tuesday from two judges who suggested it's entirely normal for states to regulate the practice of medicine.

  • October 29, 2024

    Texas Judge Rejects Early Win In Water Pollution Dispute

    A Texas federal judge denied on Tuesday an insurer's bid for an early win in its lawsuit against a water supply company accused of providing contaminated water to Cameron County residents, despite the insurer's argument that pollution exclusions in multiple policies bar coverage for the underlying claims.

  • October 29, 2024

    Google Seeks To Toss Yelp's 'Self-Preferencing' Case

    Google urged a California federal court Monday to toss Yelp's case accusing the search giant of giving preference to its own local search offerings over Yelp and others, saying the review site has been "peddling these same claims to antitrust authorities around the world for over a decade."

  • October 29, 2024

    Sports Betting Co. Sued For Spamming Consumers With Texts

    The Sports Prophets, a company that provides stats and predictions for sports gamblers to aid them in betting, has been slapped with a proposed class action accusing it of continuing to pelt customers with marketing text messages after they opted out.

  • October 29, 2024

    FCC Denies Another Bid To Shelve Prison Phone Rate Caps

    The Federal Communications Commission has rejected another bid to delay new prison phone rate caps, this time from a company that sought a narrow hold while the FCC weighs its request to reconsider certain limitations on provider revenue.

Expert Analysis

  • Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'

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    The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Conn. Court Split May Lead To Vertical Forum Shopping

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    As shown by a recent ruling in State v. Exxon Mobil, Connecticut state and federal courts are split on personal jurisdiction, and until the Connecticut Supreme Court steps in, parties may be incentivized to forum shop, causing foreign entities to endure costly litigation and uncertain liability, says Matthew Gibbons at Shipman & Goodwin.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In the third quarter of the year, California continued to be at the forefront of banking regulation as it enacted legislation on unfair banking practices and junk fees, and the state Department of Financial Protection and Innovation notably initiated enforcement actions focused on crypto-assets and student loan debt relief, say Stuart Richter and Eric Hail at Katten.

  • Opinion

    FTC's Report Criticizing Drug Middlemen Is Flawed

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    The Federal Trade Commission's July report, which claims that pharmacy benefit managers are inflating drug costs, does not offer a credible analysis of PBMs, and its methodology lacks rigor, says Jay Ezrielev at Elevecon.

  • 2 High Court Securities Cases Could Clarify Pleading Rules

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    In granting certiorari in a pair of securities fraud cases against Facebook and Nvidia, respectively, the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its intention to align interpretations of the heightened pleading standard under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act amid its uneven application among the circuit courts, say attorneys at V&E.

  • What 2 Key Rulings Mean For Solicitation Under TCPA

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    Two recent rulings from federal district courts in New York and California — each of which came to a different conclusion — bring to light courts' continued focus on and analysis of when an alleged communication constitutes a solicitation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, say Felix Shipkevich and Jessica Livingston at Shipkevich.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In a relatively light few months for banking legal updates in New York, the state Department of Financial Services previewed its views on banking sector artificial intelligence use via insurer guidance, and an anti-money laundering enforcement action underscored the importance of international monitoring processes, say Eric McLaughlin and Dana Bayersdorfer at Davis Polk.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Navigating The Complexities Of Cyber Incident Reporting

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    When it comes to cybersecurity incident response plans, the uptick in the number and targets of legal and regulatory actions emphasizes the necessity for businesses to document the facts underlying the assumptions, complexities and obstacles of their decisions during the incident response, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Aviation Watch: Boeing Plea Agreement May Not Serve Public

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    The proposed plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing — the latest outgrowth of the company's 737 Max travails — is opposed by crash victims' families, faces an uncertain fate in court, and may ultimately serve no beneficial purpose, even if approved, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Using Primacy And Recency Effects In Opening Statements

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    By understanding and strategically employing the primacy and recency effects in opening statements, attorneys can significantly enhance their persuasive impact, ensuring that their narrative is both compelling and memorable from the outset, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is headed for a brisk fall season, on the heels of a heated summer, which included the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the CFPB funding structure is constitutional, and in advance of the November election, says Eamonn Moran at Holland & Knight.

  • Payward And The Secondary Crypto Transaction Confusion

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    Following orders in cases against Coinbase and Binance, the recent California federal court ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Payward raises even more questions about regulation of secondary transactions involving crypto-assets, as it tries to sidestep fundamental flaws in the SEC's legal theories, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

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