Consumer Protection

  • April 15, 2024

    Justices Allow Class Action Over ATM Fees To Proceed

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a D.C. Circuit decision affirming class certifications in a long-running ATM fee dispute, which Visa and Mastercard claimed created a circuit split over the correct standard of review courts should use when considering certification motions.

  • April 15, 2024

    High Court Passes On Tenants' Debt Collection Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived a suit filed by tenants who hit a California law firm with a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suit.

  • April 15, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Elanco's Win In Free-Dinner Fax Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined an Illinois animal hospital's invitation to review the Seventh Circuit's latest interpretation of "unsolicited advertisement" in a ruling that closed the door on the hospital's lawsuit targeting free seminar invitations from Elanco Animal Health Inc.

  • April 12, 2024

    Patreon Takes Aim At Constitutionality Of Video Privacy Law

    Content monetization platform Patreon pressed a California federal judge Friday to toss a proposed class action claiming it violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by sharing members' video-watching data with Meta, arguing that the "poorly drafted" federal law unconstitutionally restricts its speech and imposes damages unrelated to any actual harm.

  • April 12, 2024

    US, EU Antitrust Officials Agree On Much, Not Sustainability

    The leaders of the U.S. and European antitrust agencies said Friday their views are broadly aligned on many competition policy issues, though they also outlined opposing approaches to companies that want to collaborate on sustainability projects.

  • April 12, 2024

    'American-Made' May Include Foreign Parts, 10th Circ. Says

    A panel of the Tenth Circuit unanimously ruled Friday there's nothing legally problematic with foreign-made components being used in products advertised as "American-made," upholding a construction equipment maker's summary judgment win over its competitors' claims of false advertising, false designation of origin and copyright infringement.

  • April 12, 2024

    'Much More Is Coming': Experts See Wave Of AI-Related Suits

    Legal experts speaking Friday at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law's symposium on artificial intelligence and evidence in civil litigation warned that broadening usage and increased regulation will lead to a wave of litigation over the technology, leaving courts to analyze the "black box" of corporate AI algorithms to determine liability.

  • April 12, 2024

    Epic Wants Google Play Store Reforms After Antitrust Verdict

    Following Epic Games' jury win on antitrust claims related to the Google Play Store and Android apps, the "Fortnite" maker has asked a California federal judge to force Google to allow consumers to download apps from wherever they want and bar the tech giant from restricting in-app purchase options.

  • April 12, 2024

    Ex-Biotech CEO Gets 7 Years In Fake COVID Test Case

    A former biotech CEO accused of defrauding investors by touting a phony rapid finger-prick COVID test was sentenced to seven years in prison in D.C. federal court Friday.

  • April 12, 2024

    SEC Fines 5 Advisers Over Alleged Marketing Rule Violations

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that five investment advisory firms have agreed to pay $200,000 in combined penalties to settle allegations that they violated the commission's marketing rule by advertising misleading hypothetical performance.

  • April 12, 2024

    Connecticut Credit Union Settles Overdraft Fee Lawsuit

    Connecticut-based Connex Credit Union Inc. has agreed to settle a proposed class action that challenged $35 overdraft fees in "authorize positive, settle negative" transactions, according to a request that seeks to cancel a state court hearing in the matter.

  • April 12, 2024

    NY Health Network To Pay $1M For Deceptive COVID Test Bills

    Long Island, New York-based hospital network Northwell Health will pay $1 million over allegations that it fraudulently billed patients for a hospital visit after they came for what they thought was a free COVID-19 test, the state's attorney general said Friday.

  • April 12, 2024

    Mercedes-Benz Lending Arm Must Face Conn. Lease Fight

    A split Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday toppled a win for Mercedes-Benz's financial arm in a fight over a defaulted car lease, ruling that lower courts erroneously denied the defendants a fair shot at fighting the case.

  • April 12, 2024

    FCC Urged To DQ Iconectiv As Number Portability Manager

    The company in charge of the Federal Communications Commision's system for allowing people to switch cell phone providers without losing their number is sister companies with a Voice over Internet Protocol provider — which does not mesh with the agency's neutrality rules, another telecom company is warning.

  • April 12, 2024

    Tyco Reaches $750M PFAS Deal In Foam Co. MDL

    Johnson Controls International PLC subsidiary Tyco Fire Products LP on Friday agreed to pay $750 million to settle public water systems' federal claims that some "forever chemicals" they detected in their supplies came from firefighting foam it made.

  • April 12, 2024

    Republicans Warn CFPB Against Pursuing Arbitration Rule 2.0

    Two Republican lawmakers are cautioning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against heeding calls for another rulemaking to restrict arbitration provisions in consumer financial contracts, warning that such an effort would be a "significant abuse" of the agency's authority.

  • April 12, 2024

    House To Retry Spy Bill After Warrant Measure Fails By 1 Vote

    The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to reauthorize government surveillance of foreigners without warrants, only to have a Florida Republican call for a reconsideration vote for Monday to require warrants for spying on Americans' communications caught up in the surveillance.

  • April 12, 2024

    Critics Blast FCC Call To Raise Net Neutrality 'Ruckus'

    A call by the Democratic chief of the Federal Communications Commission for a public "ruckus" to support reinstating Obama-era net neutrality rules shows why the looming order will likely be overturned in court, opponents of the plan said.

  • April 12, 2024

    Feds Say Ga. Apartments Denied Wheelchair Accommodation

    Federal prosecutors on Thursday hit a Savannah, Georgia, apartment complex, a local housing authority and other defendants with a Fair Housing Act complaint alleging they denied a disabled resident an accessible apartment in spite of her repeated requests that they accommodate her disability.

  • April 12, 2024

    Maine AG Sues Monsanto Over PCB Contamination

    Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey sued Monsanto on Friday seeking to recover damages for the company's alleged contamination of the state's waterways with polychlorinated biphenyls, a dangerous chemical compound known to accumulate and persist in humans and the environment.

  • April 12, 2024

    Abbott Labs Gets Price Claims Tossed In Baby Formula MDL

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday threw out a suit from parents alleging that Abbott Laboratories benefited from increased prices during a shortage of baby formula kicked off when one of its facilities was shut down, saying they haven't shown that the company's profits during that time were unjustly retained.

  • April 12, 2024

    Bimbo Beats False Ad Suit Over 'All Butter' Entenmann's Cake

    Bimbo Bakeries defeated a proposed class action alleging its Entenmann's brand "All Butter" loaf cake is misleading to customers since the butter taste is partially sourced from artificial vanillin, after a Maryland federal judge said Friday the claims are preempted by the U.S. Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.

  • April 12, 2024

    Make Clear Neutrality Exempts Content Storage, Akamai Says

    Akamai Technologies is asking the FCC to make it crystal clear in the net neutrality orders that are set to be voted on this month that information storing agreements between internet service providers and content delivery networks are still above board.

  • April 12, 2024

    Vermont Attys Can't Be Sued In Connecticut, Court Says

    Two Vermont firms that handled the sale of a Connecticut man's second home near a Vermont ski town cannot be sued in Connecticut because the lawyers' business models and the disputed cash transfers that spurred the litigation were not sufficiently directed toward Connecticut, a three-judge appellate panel ruled on Friday.

  • April 12, 2024

    Mercedes-Benz Gets Fraud Claims Clipped In Brake Suit

    A Washington federal judge has thrown out the bulk of a man's claims in a proposed class action alleging Mercedes-Benz USA LLC sold vehicles with defective brake sleeves that can cause corrosion, finding he hasn't adequately pled that the company fraudulently hid the existence of the alleged defect.

Expert Analysis

  • How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection

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    Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Takeaways From Groundbreaking Data Transfer Order

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    A recent first-of-its-kind executive order and related proposed rulemaking lay the groundwork for important outbound U.S. data protections, but they may have unintended consequences related to the types of data and the subjects within their scope, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • Innodata Suit Highlights 'AI Washing' Liability Risk For Cos.

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    A class action against software company Innodata over so-called AI washing, one of the first of its kind, underscores the litigation and enforcement risks that can arise from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's novel theory about misleading artificial intelligence capabilities, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • The Epic Antitrust Cases And Challenges Of Injunctive Relief

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    The Epic cases against Apple and Google offer a window into the courts' considerable challenges in Big Tech litigation and establishing injunctive relief that enhances competition and benefits consumers, say Kelly Lear Nordby and Jon Tomlin at Ankura Consulting.

  • Banks Should Continue To Prep For CFPB Data Rule Rollout

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    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-supervised banks should not expect industry pressure to delay the rollout of proposed Section 1033 open banking rules, which regulate how consumer financial information flows between financial institutions, and prepare their required data access portals and compliance procedures now, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Calif. Video Recording Ruling May Affect Insured Exams

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    A recent California appellate decision, Myasnyankin v. Nationwide, allowing policyholders to video record all parties to an insurance examination under oath, has changed the rules of the road for EUOs and potentially opened Pandora's box for future disputes, say John Edson and Preston Bennett at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers

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    Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.

  • Fintech 'Prenups': Planning For A Card Program Breakup

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    After a year of economic downturns, some banks and their fintech partners are realizing they may have rushed to the altar without a good prenup, but planning ahead can curb both foreseeable and unexpected issues in the event of a termination of a bank-fintech card-issuing agreement, say Andrew Grant at Ketsal and Richard Malish at Community Federal Savings Bank.

  • Legal Considerations For Circular Economy Strategies

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    As circular economy goals — generating revenue at multiple points in a product's life cycle — become nearly ubiquitous in corporate sustainability practices, companies should reassess existing strategies by focusing on government incentives, regulations, and reporting and disclosure requirements, say Rachel Saltzman and Erin Grisby at Hunton.

  • 3 Notification Pitfalls To Avoid With Arbitration Provisions

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    In Lipsett v. Popular Bank, the Second Circuit found that a bank's arbitration provision was unenforceable due to insufficient notice to a customer that he was bound by the agreement, highlighting the importance of adequate communication of arbitration provisions, and customers' options for opting out, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Tips For Orgs Facing AI Data Privacy Compliance Challenges

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    Regulators around the world are actively seeking to enforce data privacy and consumer protection laws against companies providing artificial intelligence-related services, raising complex compliance questions in areas like transparency, data minimization, lawfulness of processing, data subject rights and higher risk activities, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • What's At Play In Rising Lanham Act Cases At The ITC

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    Amid an uptick in Lanham Act claims involving false advertising related to medical devices at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Brian Busey and Maryrose McLaughlin at MoFo discuss recent ITC complaints from Eli Lilly and R.J. Reynolds, Lanham Act claim limits under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the issues practitioners face in this realm.

  • Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims

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    Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.

  • Enforcement Risk Amid Increased Consumer Data Use

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    While no state has introduced a private right of action for noncompliance with a comprehensive consumer privacy law — except for the California Consumer Privacy Act's data breach provision — organizations and retailers face risk from enforcement actions by state attorneys general and privacy regulators, say attorneys at Dentons.

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