Consumer Protection

  • December 02, 2025

    DOJ Tells Justices Duke Must Face 'Holistic' Antitrust Case

    The Trump administration weighed in Monday on Duke Energy's bid to duck a rival's claims accusing the power giant of squeezing it out of the North Carolina market, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that the Fourth Circuit rightly revived the allegations by refusing to view them only "in isolation."

  • December 02, 2025

    PennyMac Can't Shed 'Pay-To-Pay' Borrower Class Action

    Residential mortgage servicer PennyMac Loan Services LLC can't shed a proposed class action alleging it unfairly charged borrowers "pay-to-pay" fees, a North Carolina federal judge has said, saying the servicer's assertion that it doesn't collect or receive the relevant fees is an issue for a later stage in the proceedings.

  • December 02, 2025

    FDIC Secures Dismissal Of SVB Cayman Deposit Suit

    A California federal judge has permanently tossed a suit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. brought by liquidators of the Cayman Islands branch of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, finding they lack standing to sue the agency and are barred from relitigating issues already decided in bankruptcy court.

  • December 02, 2025

    Wells Fargo Beneficiary's Hidden Trust Claims Are Too Late

    Wells Fargo has beaten claims that it intentionally concealed a Massachusetts man's trust fund and drove him to financial instability, after a federal judge found the man didn't take appropriate steps to find his trust decades earlier.

  • December 02, 2025

    Wash. AI Task Force Proposes Guardrails And Disclosures

    A Washington state task force Monday unveiled a set of proposed guardrails and disclosure requirements for the responsible use of artificial intelligence, including mandating that developers publicly share details about data used to train their models and requiring law enforcement to disclose the use of AI tools.

  • December 02, 2025

    5th Circ. Wary Of FDA Process Behind Rule For New Vapes

    A Fifth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration properly accounted for how a new rule for premarket authorization of new tobacco products would affect small businesses in the industry.

  • December 02, 2025

    Cox Failed To Protect Sensitive Data From Breach, Suit Says

    Communications and automotive services company Cox Enterprises failed to adequately safeguard its back-office business operations platform against a data breach, putting personally identifiable information at risk of being stolen, according to a proposed class action filed in Georgia federal court.

  • December 02, 2025

    Utah Youth Bring Renewed Challenge To Fossil Fuel Permits

    A group of 10 young Utah residents have urged a state court to declare that more than 300 of Utah's fossil fuel development permits violate their right under Utah's constitution to enjoy life.

  • December 02, 2025

    Vapor Evidence Tossed From Causation In Camp Lejeune Suit

    A panel of federal judges has excluded evidence of water vapor intrusion from the analysis of causation in the Camp Lejeune water contamination suit in North Carolina federal court, siding with the government in its argument that water vapor is not included in "the water" named in the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.

  • December 02, 2025

    NTIA Signals Interest In Reducing Students' Screen Time

    A branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce will lead a new federal effort to cut down on "excessive" use of devices by students, the agency's administrator said Tuesday.

  • December 02, 2025

    Under New Chair, Fed. Vax Panel To Redo Hep B Vote

    The new chair of an influential federal vaccine advisory panel is set to lead a vote this week on whether to roll back federal recommendations that newborns get vaccinated against hepatitis B.

  • December 02, 2025

    NTIA Chief Says Broadband Program Reforms Save $21B

    The federal government has shaved $21 billion off the cost of a broadband deployment program through recent reforms and will unveil policies soon on how those savings will be used, the head of the agency leading the effort said Tuesday.

  • December 02, 2025

    Justices Skeptical Of NJ Subpoena For Anti-Abortion Donors

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared sympathetic Tuesday to an anti-abortion pregnancy-center network's bid to challenge a subpoena from the New Jersey attorney general, pressing the state on whether its demand for donor identities and internal documents risked unconstitutionally chilling First Amendment associational rights.

  • December 02, 2025

    States' HPE-Juniper Intervention Limited To Settlement

    A California federal court's ruling allowing state enforcers to intervene over a deal to end the Justice Department's challenge of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks is limited to the court's review of the settlement, according to a new order.

  • December 02, 2025

    3rd Circ. Weighs 'Information' Meaning In Credit Report Rift

    A panel of the Third Circuit on Tuesday considered whether Experian acted reasonably when it reported that a New Jersey consumer was behind on child support payments despite the consumer's efforts to dispute that report's accuracy, questioning whether the purported delinquency had to be reported in the first place.

  • December 02, 2025

    Homebuyers Defend NAR Antitrust Claims Against Brokerage

    A group of homebuyers told a Pennsylvania federal judge that brokerage Hanna Holdings failed to show cause for escaping antitrust claims over its use of rules set by the National Association of Realtors that artificially drove up the cost of house purchases.

  • December 02, 2025

    Walmart Stabbing Victim Says Mich. Store Ignored Red Flags

    A man who was one of 11 people stabbed at a Traverse City Walmart this summer sued the retail giant in Michigan state court on Tuesday, alleging the company flouted its own safety policies when employees didn't flag the attacker's suspicious behavior and call police.

  • December 02, 2025

    'Ionization' Smoke Detectors Are Faulty, Class Claims

    A proposed class of buyers is suing the makers of "ionization technology" smoke alarms, saying they have hidden the fact that they are incapable of detecting slow, smoldering fires that are more dangerous and common than the faster, flaming fires they can detect.

  • December 02, 2025

    Judge Combines Antitrust Suits Against Zillow, Redfin

    A Virginia federal judge has consolidated two separate antitrust suits filed by the Federal Trade Commission and multiple states against property listing companies Zillow Group Inc., Zillow Inc. and Redfin Corp.

  • December 01, 2025

    Meta Can't Block 'Disgruntled' Researcher's Depo Responses

    A California federal judge overseeing discovery in litigation against social media giants over their impact on youth mental health rejected Meta's bid Monday to block a "disgruntled" former researcher from sharing information it deems attorney-client privileged in an upcoming deposition.

  • December 01, 2025

    FTC Orders Security Fixes To End Education Data Breach Row

    The Federal Trade Commission has become the latest enforcer to take action against technology provider Illuminate Education Inc. over a data breach that exposed millions of students' personal information, announcing a deal Monday that requires the company to delete unnecessary data and undertake other security enhancements. 

  • December 01, 2025

    Terraform Founder Seeks Five Years At Most For Crypto Fraud

    Terraform founder Do Kwon has asked a Manhattan federal judge to impose no more than five years of imprisonment after he admitted to misleading users about the stability of the crypto project, noting he still has to face "certain future detention in Korea" over the stunning collapse that wiped out $40 billion in value.

  • December 01, 2025

    Alaska Airlines Defeats Flight Pass Cutbacks Suit For Good

    A California federal judge on Monday threw out a proposed class action accusing Alaska Airlines of unlawfully reducing the number of flights available to members of its Flight Pass program, ruling that the airline was well within its rights to make changes.

  • December 01, 2025

    Kalshi Users Bring Class Action Over 'Illegal' Sports Gambling

    Kalshi Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging that the platform is falsely marketing itself as a "prediction market," when in reality it is running an illegal sports gambling operation.

  • December 01, 2025

    State AGs Demand Info From 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Lenders

    A multistate coalition of seven attorneys general has launched a probe into the terms and fees set by "buy now, pay later" lenders that are popular with shoppers, saying they're concerned that the companies' products could be breaking consumer protection laws.

Expert Analysis

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • Who Will Regulate Insider Trading In Prediction Markets?

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    The possibilities for insider trading have greatly expanded in the brave new world of prediction markets, and both the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and U.S. Department of Justice could bring enforcement actions in the space, so businesses should revisit their insider trading and confidential information policies, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Identifying The Sources And Impacts Of Juror Contamination

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    Jury contamination can be pervasive, so it is important that trial teams be able to spot its sources and take specific mitigation steps, says consultant Clint Townson.

  • 7 Lessons From The Tractor Supply CCPA Enforcement Action

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency's recent enforcement action targeting Tractor Supply for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act provides critical insights into the compliance areas that remain a priority for the California regulator, including businesses with significant consumer interactions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Federal Debanking Scrutiny Prompts Compliance Questions

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    Recent U.S. Small Business Administration guidance sets forth requirements for preventing so-called politicized debanking and specific additional instructions for small lenders, but falls short on clarity for larger institutions, leaving lenders of all sizes with questions as they navigate this unique compliance challenge, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • New Mass. 'Junk Fee' Regs Will Be Felt Across Industries

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    The reach of a newly effective regulation prohibiting so-called junk fees and deceptive pricing in Massachusetts will be widespread across industries, which should prompt businesses to take note of new advertising, pricing information and negative option requirements, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • What 9th Circ.'s Rosenwald Ruling Means For Class Actions

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Rosenwald v. Kimberly-Clark has important implications around the Class Action Fairness Act and traditional diversity jurisdiction — both for plaintiff-side and defense-side class action litigators — and deepens the circuit split concerning the use of judicial notice to establish diversity, says Grace Schmidt at DTO Law.

  • What's At Stake In Justices' Merits Hearing Of FTC Firing

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    In December, the U.S. Supreme Court will review President Donald Trump's firing of Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, a decision that will implicate a 90-year-old precedent and, depending on its breadth, could have profound implications for presidential authority over independent agencies, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Dropped Case Shows SEC Focus On Independent Directors

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent liquidity rule case against Pinnacle Advisors, despite its dismissal by the commission, serves as a reminder that the SEC expects directors to embrace their role as active, probing fiduciaries, says Dianne Descoteaux at MFDF.

  • Addressing Legal Risks Of AI In The Homebuilding Industry

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    Artificial intelligence is transforming the homebuilding industry, but the legal challenges posed by its adoption spread across many areas, including contractual liability and intellectual property issues, so builders should adopt strategies to mitigate the risks and position themselves for success, says Philip Stein at Bilzin Sumberg.

  • Compliance Steps To Take As FCRA Enforcement Widens

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    As the Fair Credit Reporting Act receives renewed focus from both federal and state enforcers, regulatory and litigation risk is most acute in several core areas, which companies can address by implementing purpose processes and quick remediation of consumer complaints, among other steps, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • 6 Shifts In Trump Tax Law May Lend A Hand To M&A Strategy

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    Changes in the Trump administration's recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act stand to create a more favorable environment for mergers and acquisitions, including full bonus depreciation and an expanded code section, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • How Calif. Law Cracks Down On Algorithmic Price-Fixing

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    Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws this month significantly expanding state antitrust enforcement and civil and criminal penalties for the use or distribution of shared pricing algorithms, as the U.S. Department of Justice has recently wielded the Sherman Act to challenge algorithmic pricing, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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