Consumer Protection

  • May 14, 2026

    'Who's Telling The Truth?' Musk-OpenAI Fight Goes To Jury

    Elon Musk's counsel urged a California federal jury during trial closings Thursday to find OpenAI breached its charitable trust aided by Microsoft Corp. and slammed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's credibility, while OpenAI's counsel argued Musk is trying to attack his competitor and urged jurors to ask themselves, "Who's telling the truth?"

  • May 14, 2026

    AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Join Forces To End 'Dead Zones'

    AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have reached an agreement in principle to form a new joint venture aimed at ending wireless dead zones in the U.S. by pooling resources to increase capacity, according to an announcement made Thursday.

  • May 14, 2026

    Freight Brokers Brace For New Risks After High Court Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday shattered what freight brokers believed was an ironclad shield against state-based negligence and injury claims over catastrophic accidents, as the trucking industry's middlemen face heightened legal exposure and question what reasonable care means in selecting motor carriers for a transport, experts say.

  • May 14, 2026

    Meta Starts NM Defense As Midtrial Win Bid Fails

    A judge denied Meta a midtrial win Thursday morning over harm to underage social media users, prompting the social media giant to call an executive to begin building a defense case that platform changes requested by New Mexico's attorney general are unnecessary or even counterproductive.

  • May 14, 2026

    Oppenheimer Customers Ink $70M Cash Sweep Rate Deal

    A class of Oppenheimer & Co. customers are asking a New York federal judge to greenlight a $70 million settlement resolving their claims that the investment bank pocketed hefty fees from its cash sweep account program while paying customers "unreasonable, below-market interest rates."

  • May 14, 2026

    Human Reproduction Proves Talc Can Reach Ovaries, Jury Told

    A medical oncologist on Thursday told a Los Angeles bellwether jury considering claims that Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused three women's deadly ovarian cancer that the female reproductive system is an "open" system where talc can migrate to the ovaries, and that "we wouldn't exist" if that was not the case.

  • May 14, 2026

    Google Says DOJ's Search Win Can't Help Yelp Suit

    Google urged a California federal judge on Wednesday not to let Yelp invoke the U.S. Department of Justice's D.C. search monopoly win in the local search provider's own antitrust case, arguing that the two lawsuits look at the interconnection between local and general search through fundamentally different lenses.

  • May 14, 2026

    Verizon's Array Buy Gets Green Light From FCC Staff

    Verizon secured approval Thursday from the Federal Communications Commission to buy up spectrum assets of the former rival UScellular, now known as Array Digital Infrastructure Inc.

  • May 14, 2026

    Algorithms In Senate Spotlight After Social Media Suit Losses

    Lawyers and parents on Wednesday urged lawmakers to strengthen protections for children online, focusing on the addictiveness of social media algorithms after two recent trial losses for Big Tech.

  • May 14, 2026

    House Passes Bill To Narrow Biofuel Blending Exemption

    The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would lift summertime restrictions on the sale of higher-ethanol fuel and tighten requirements for a biofuel blending exemption for small refineries.

  • May 14, 2026

    Fla. Property Manager To Pay Evicted Sailor $60K In DOJ Deal

    A Florida property management company will pay $60,000 to a U.S. Navy sailor to settle allegations by federal prosecutors that the company used a false affidavit to win an eviction that forced the sailor to live apart from his wife — at times on a Navy ship with no heat.

  • May 14, 2026

    Smucker's Misleads About Splenda In Fudge, Consumer Says

    A New York man sued The J.M. Smucker Co. in federal court on Thursday, alleging it misleads consumers by claiming its fudge topping is sweetened with Splenda, when in reality its primary sweeteners are less-healthy sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes.

  • May 14, 2026

    Senate Bill Would Require Network Outage Refunds

    A Democratic senator filed legislation that would require cable, satellite, internet and phone providers to refund customers for service outages lasting longer than four hours.

  • May 14, 2026

    Alaska Flew Into Violent Turbulence, Injured Passenger Says

    An Alaska Airlines Inc. passenger who claims she was injured when her plane encountered turbulence and suddenly plummeted 200 feet sued the carrier in Washington state court Wednesday, accusing dispatchers and pilots of negligently steering the plane into danger despite repeated weather warnings.

  • May 14, 2026

    Honda Buyers Say 440K Odysseys Have Faulty Side Airbags

    Honda hid safety defects for years in its 2018-2022 Odyssey minivans where side airbag systems would suddenly deploy when traveling on flat roads, slowing down to a stop or going over a speed bump, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

  • May 14, 2026

    Cheerleading Co. Gets Final OK For Data Breach Settlement

    A Texas federal court on Thursday gave final approval for a $1.1 million class action settlement to resolve claims that cheerleading apparel company Varsity Brands Inc. failed to prevent and address a data breach impacting nearly 66,000 people.

  • May 14, 2026

    Advocacy Groups, Dems Seek To Restore Digital Equity Fund

    A year after the Trump administration abruptly pulled funds set aside for digital equity grants, Democratic lawmakers are joining with public interest groups in trying to block a budget proposal that would permanently stamp out the program.

  • May 14, 2026

    United Rentals, Ex-Worker Strike Deal In Noncompete Suit

    United Rentals Inc. on Thursday asked a Connecticut federal judge to approve a permanent injunction blocking a former North Carolina salesperson from working for a competitor within 100 miles of United's Raleigh branch office through mid-January 2027, ending a 4-month-old noncompete suit.

  • May 14, 2026

    Homebuyers, Brokers Clash Over Opt-In Antitrust Settlements

    A proposed class of homebuyers is opposing efforts by HomeServices of America Inc. and Douglas Elliman Inc. in Florida federal court to settle separate but similar antitrust class actions accusing brokerages of conspiring to inflate broker commission fees.

  • May 14, 2026

    Rural Carrier To Pay $80K For Breaking FCC Rules

    A rural telephone company in Colorado has agreed to pay $80,000 and create a compliance plan to resolve a Federal Communications Commission probe into whether it provided unauthorized service.

  • May 14, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs 20-Year Stretch For Forcount Fraudster

    The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed a 20-year sentence for an Ecuadorian man from Florida who pushed the $14 million, international Forcount cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, concluding that "any error" from a broadcast of the sentencing did not impact the outcome.

  • May 14, 2026

    Volkswagen Hit With Class Claims Over EV Battery Fire Risk

    Volkswagen has been hit with a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court alleging that tens of thousands of its ID.4 electric vehicles contain defective high-voltage batteries that can spontaneously catch fire because of misaligned electrodes.

  • May 14, 2026

    New Bill Would Ban Chinese Point-Of-Sale Tech For DOD

    The U.S. Department of Defense would be banned from using any Chinese-made point-of-sale technology — devices like those that allow people to tap their cards to pay — in its buildings, if one Republican congressman gets his way.

  • May 14, 2026

    Water Utilities Urge DC Circ. To Toss EPA PFAS Regs Suit

    A trade association for local public clean water utilities is urging the D.C. Circuit to affirm the dismissal of a suit from a group of farmers alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hasn't adequately regulated so-called forever chemicals, saying the plaintiffs' suit risks interfering with their ability to do their jobs.

  • May 14, 2026

    Senate Banking Committee Advances Landmark Crypto Bill

    The latest version of a bill to regulate crypto markets advanced out of the Senate banking committee on Thursday in a vote that saw two Democrats break with their colleagues to support the measure, though they warned their continued support of the so-called Clarity Act is contingent upon adding ethics language and other updates before the bill reaches the Senate floor.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

    Author Photo

    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for general counsel to make several implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • AG Watch: Reconciling 2 Maryland Data Privacy Statutes

    Author Photo

    In-house counsel should map the interplay between the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act's strictly necessary standard to deliver a requested service, and the Protection From Predatory Pricing Act's exemption of consent-based pricing within loyalty programs, before the state attorney general begins enforcement on the latter in October, says Erek Barron at Mintz.

  • Nexstar Offers A Cautionary Tale On State-Level Deal Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    State-enforcement challenges to the $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna merger remind legal practitioners that federal approval isn't always sufficient to deliver certainty on closing, integration and timetable assumptions, says Brett Story at Britehorn Securities.

  • How 'Bundling' Enforcement Is Parsing Efficiency, Access

    Author Photo

    Recent antitrust enforcement actions have taken a selective view of companies' bundling of products or services — challenging it when it shuts out rivals, but tolerating it when it creates efficient scale — making the real test now less about lower prices than about whether competition is being blocked, says attorney Alan Kusinitz.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

    Author Photo

    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • 5 Takeaways From Justices' Subpoena Fight Ruling

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in First Choice v. Davenport fortifies a line of First Amendment associational privacy cases stretching back nearly 70 years, and ensures that organizations subject to government demands for donor information have a meaningful federal forum in which to defend their constitutional rights, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • How Treasury's Stablecoin Test Will Shape State Oversight

    Author Photo

    The Treasury Department's recently proposed principles for judging whether state stablecoin regimes are "substantially similar" to the federal framework signal that issuers should expect stricter benchmarking against the bank agencies' standards, limited state flexibility and heightened pressure to reassess compliance as rules take shape, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Mass. Draft Regs Signal Nationwide Scrutiny Of Junk Fees

    Author Photo

    Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell's new draft regulations for assisted living facilities is only her latest move in the war on junk fees — and part of a national reordering of consumer protection enforcement in which states are aggressively and creatively asserting authority, says Steve Provazza at Arnall Golden.

  • CFPB Rule Recalibrates Fair Lending Compliance

    Author Photo

    A close reading of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new final rule on fair lending enforcement reveals a thoughtful and disciplined effort to realign enforcement with statutory text, evidentiary rigor and practical compliance realities, says Alan Kaplinsky at Ballard Spahr.

  • Where The Preemption Fight Over Prediction Markets Stands

    Author Photo

    While the Third Circuit's recent ruling in Kalshi v. Flaherty remains a significant win for the federal government in its quest to regulate prediction markets, the Fourth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits appear more skeptical, indicating that this fight is likely headed for the Supreme Court, says Johnny ElHachem at Holland & Knight.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

    Author Photo

    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • 1st Surveillance Pricing Law In Md. Reflects Broader Scrutiny

    Author Photo

    A new law will make Maryland the first state to target data-driven or surveillance-based price manipulation, highlighting increased scrutiny from federal and state enforcement agencies and policymakers as they consider whether new laws are required to regulate dynamic pricing, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Understanding The Insider Trading Gap In Prediction Markets

    Author Photo

    While the first-ever insider trading indictment involving a prediction market — the recent prosecution of a service member involved in the capture of Nicolás Maduro — comprised extreme facts and straightforward legal theories, future cases will test the bounds of insider trading law, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

    Author Photo

    While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here