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Consumer Protection
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June 12, 2024
NJ Judicial Privacy Law Hit With Constitutional Challenge
Companies accused of violating Daniel's Law hit back in New Jersey federal court this week, calling the judicial data privacy protection measure unconstitutionally vague, harsh and riddled with loopholes, and arguing it is being "cynically" misused by the plaintiff, a data privacy company.
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June 12, 2024
Pool Co. Hits Ch. 11 After 'Crippling' $16M False Ads Verdict
The American arm of a Chinese swimming pool products manufacturer has declared bankruptcy after it was slapped with a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment in North Carolina that the company previously warned would put it out of business.
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June 11, 2024
Pa. Health System Shakes Meta Data Sharing Row For Now
A Pennsylvania federal judge has tossed a putative class action accusing a nonprofit health system of unlawfully sharing information about website visitors' activities with Meta Platforms Inc., finding that the plaintiff had failed to adequately detail what protected health data had been disclosed.
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June 11, 2024
Tyco's $750M PFAS Deal In Foam Co. MDL Gets Initial OK
A South Carolina federal judge gave his blessing Tuesday to the $750 million settlement Johnson Controls International PLC subsidiary Tyco Fire Products LP entered to resolve public water systems' federal claims that some forever chemicals they detected in their supplies came from firefighting foam it made.
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June 11, 2024
2nd Circ. Cites Macquarie In Booting Suit Over Go-Private Deal
The Second Circuit refused to revive a proposed class action accusing a real estate services provider of artificially depressing share prices, applying apparently for the first time the U.S. Supreme Court's Macquarie decision on alleged failures to disclose certain information.
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June 11, 2024
Listing Co. Urges Court To Ignore DOJ's Broker Deal Issues
A multiple listing service that has struck a $3 million settlement over broker commission rules told a Massachusetts federal court the changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice go far beyond what's required and would create an antitrust problem in the real estate industry.
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June 11, 2024
Prison Phone Cos. Want To Factor Security Cost Into Rates
Prison phone call providers need to be allowed to factor the cost of safety and security features into the rates that they charge incarcerated people to contact their loved ones, a trio of companies has told the Federal Communications Commission.
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June 11, 2024
NFL Balks At Delays, Amendments To Mobile App Privacy Suit
A proposed class action alleging that the NFL failed to protect data on its mobile app should not be allowed to replace the lead plaintiff, especially after he has exhibited a "lack of diligence and delay" during the suit, the league told a Rhode Island federal judge Tuesday.
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June 11, 2024
9th Circ. Judge On Theranos Appeal: 'Good Story' For Holmes
Two Ninth Circuit judges on a three-judge panel expressed concerns Tuesday that the district judge presiding over convicted former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' criminal trial erred by allowing a layperson witness to offer expert testimony at trial, with one judge saying, "There's a pretty good story here for Ms. Holmes."
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June 11, 2024
Granulated Sugar Price-Fixing Cases Centralized In Minn.
A collection of price-fixing suits against some of the country's biggest refined sugar manufacturers is being consolidated in Minnesota federal court, with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation choosing the venue over federal courts in New York.
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June 11, 2024
HashiCorp Hit With Investor Suit Over $6.4B Sale To IBM
Software company HashiCorp Inc. and its board members face an investor suit seeking to halt an upcoming shareholder vote on a proposed $6.4 billion acquisition of HashiCorp by tech giant IBM, alleging the deal would unfairly benefit company insiders and hasn't been properly detailed in required filings.
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June 11, 2024
Southwest Ditches 2022 Holiday Mayhem Suit, For Now
A California federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a group of Southwest Airlines customers' proposed breach of contract class action stemming from massive flight cancellations during the airline's December 2022 holiday-week meltdown but gave the plaintiffs another shot to bolster their claims.
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June 11, 2024
4 More States Join DOJ's Antitrust Suit Against Apple
The attorneys general of Washington, Massachusetts, Nevada and Indiana on Tuesday became the latest to join the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit in New Jersey federal court claiming Apple is monopolizing the smartphone market.
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June 11, 2024
Capital One Will Face Savings-Rate MDL In Its Home District
Virginia-headquartered Capital One will face suits over allegedly misleading marketing for its high-yield savings accounts in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has determined.
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June 11, 2024
NJ Supreme Court Rejects Bid For Roundup Mass Tort
The New Jersey Supreme Court has rejected a request for litigation against Monsanto Co. and Bayer AG to be designated as multicounty litigation because there are too few cases, according to a notice to the bar published Monday.
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June 11, 2024
Wells Fargo Seeks Exit From 'Free Trial' Marketing Scam Suit
Wells Fargo on Tuesday asked a California federal judge to let it escape a lawsuit alleging that the bank's problematic sales practices led it to play a supporting role in two "free trial" marketing scams that pulled in $200 million from consumers, arguing there is no admissible evidence to support the plaintiff's "story."
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June 11, 2024
FCC Looks To Fine Telecom $2.6M For Failing To Pay Fees
The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday it plans to fine a Texas telecom $2.65 million for failing to pay required fees to support an array of FCC programs, including low-income subsidies, services for disabled consumers and phone number portability.
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June 11, 2024
Biz Groups Urge 6th Circ. To Put Net Neutrality On Hold
Industry groups want the Sixth Circuit to put the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules on hold while they are litigated and to reject an FCC bid to move numerous consolidated challenges to the D.C. Circuit.
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June 11, 2024
FTC Gets Short Extension On Novant Deal Pause
A North Carolina federal court Tuesday extended an order preventing Novant Health from closing its $320 million deal for a pair of hospitals in the state by 10 days to give the Federal Trade Commission time to ask the Fourth Circuit to pause the transaction.
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June 11, 2024
AI Hiring Platform's Ex-CEO Charged With $27M Fraud
The founder of hiring startup Joonko Diversity Inc. has been charged with fraud, with prosecutors saying Tuesday that she deceived investors into dumping $27 million into a platform that supposedly used artificial intelligence to help companies recruit diverse job candidates.
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June 11, 2024
FINRA Fines Brokerage TradeZero Over 'Finfluencer' Promos
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined broker-dealer TradeZero America Inc. $250,000 for allegedly failing to properly supervise its influencer partners, who promoted the firm on their social media accounts.
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June 11, 2024
JPML Consolidates AT&T Data Breach Suits In Texas
Thirty lawsuits brought against AT&T over a data breach that left 70 million customers' information on the dark web are being consolidated in the Northern District of Texas, with the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruling that proximity to AT&T headquarters will bring added efficiency to the proceedings.
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June 11, 2024
Watchdog Says EPA's Lead Exposure Notice Program Lagging
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not on track to roll out a public warning system for exposure to lead in drinking water by an October deadline, the EPA's internal watchdog said in a new report.
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June 11, 2024
DOE Urges DC Circ. To Extinguish Furnace Rule Fight
The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday defended its tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that arguments that the new regulations unlawfully force a costly switch to new appliances are meritless.
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June 11, 2024
Texas AG Urges DC Circ. To Revive Media Matters Probe
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants the D.C. Circuit to revive his investigation into progressive media watchdog Media Matters' reporting on the social media platform X, saying the D.C. federal court had no authority to interfere with the probe.
Expert Analysis
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Aviation Watch: Mostly Smooth Landing For New FAA Law
The recently signed Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act enhances air safety in several key ways, including strengthened passenger rights and cockpit voice recorder requirements, but an expansion of slot exemptions at Reagan National Airport is a notable misstep, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist
Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling
As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.
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FTC Hearing On Fake Review Rule Stressed Compliance Costs
The Federal Trade Commission is likely to finalize its proposed rule to prohibit marketers from using deceptive practices in their product reviews after an informal hearing covered arguments over whether costs of implementing the rule, such as review moderation and software maintenance, would be minimal, says Jeffrey Edelstein at Manatt.
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FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.
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3 Recent Decisions To Note As Climate Litigation Heats Up
Three recent rulings on climate-related issues — from a New York federal court, a New York state court and an international tribunal, respectively — demonstrate both regulators' concern about climate change and the complexity of conflicting regulations in different jurisdictions, say J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.
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12 Keys To Successful Post-Trial Juror Interviews
Post-trial interviews offer attorneys an avenue to gain valuable insights into juror decision making and get feedback that can inform future litigation strategies, but certain best practices must be followed to get the most out of this research tool, say Alexa Hiley and Brianna Smith at IMS Legal.
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How Employers, Attorneys Can Respond To Noncompete Ban
As the Federal Trade Commission's recently issued noncompete ban faces ongoing legal challenges, now is a good time for employers to consider whether they want to take a wait-and-see approach before halting use of noncompetes and for practitioners to gain insight into other tools available to protect their clients' business interests, says Jennifer Platzkere Snyder at Dilworth Paxson.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.
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New TSCA Risk Rule Gives EPA Broad Discretion On Science
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent final amendments to its framework for evaluating the risks of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act give it vast discretion over consideration of scientific information, without objective criteria to guide that discretion, say John McGahren and Debra Carfora at Morgan Lewis.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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CFPB's Expanding Scope Evident In Coding Bootcamp Fine
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent penalty against a for-profit coding bootcamp that misrepresented its tuition financing plans is a sign that the bureau is seeking to wield its supervisory and enforcement powers in more industries that offer consumer financing, say Jason McElroy and Brandon Sherman at Saul Ewing.
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Fintech Compliance Amid Regulatory Focus On Sensitive Data
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent, expansive pursuit of financial services companies using sensitive personal information signals a move into the Federal Trade Commission's territory, and the path forward for fintech and financial service providers involves a balance between innovation and compliance, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.