Consumer Protection

  • March 21, 2024

    Judge In Blackstone Lease Row Wants Colo. Justices' Input

    A Colorado federal judge has said he would like to have the state Supreme Court answer key questions in a putative class action against Blackstone subsidiaries, writing that tenants' claims alleging the companies' lease agreements violate state law present novel legal issues with little case law to provide guidance.

  • March 21, 2024

    Judge Worries Clothing PFAS Theory Could Open Floodgates

    An Illinois federal judge seemed unsure Thursday whether he will allow consumer fraud claims to proceed against a children's clothing store that sells allegedly contaminated uniforms, suggesting the plaintiffs' liability theory could open the door too wide for future suits.

  • March 21, 2024

    Sens. Want Spectrum Pipeline, But Worry Over Nat'l Security

    Lawmakers warned Thursday that the U.S. could lose its global leadership role in telecommunications technology by delaying plans to auction more spectrum for commercial use, but said they must first deal with the national security concerns posed by shared use of the airwaves with defense users.

  • March 21, 2024

    Avoid Major Extension Of Merger Reach, EU High Court Urged

    An important tool for extending European Union antitrust officials' merger scrutiny appears to be in jeopardy after a European Court of Justice advocate general effectively recommended Thursday that the bloc's high court restrict the ability to investigate transactions that don't normally trigger EU thresholds.

  • March 21, 2024

    Woman Lost Independence Due To Strattice Mesh, Jurors Told

    A Kentucky woman told New Jersey state jurors on Thursday that LifeCell skipped important safety steps while designing its Strattice surgical mesh, and that those skipped steps caused a hernia to reoccur and ultimately resulted in the loss of her independence.

  • March 21, 2024

    Home Depot Reaches $20M Class Deal In False Blind-Ad Suit

    Home Depot has reached a roughly $20 million proposed class settlement to resolve allegations that it falsely advertised window treatments as discounted on Blinds.com and other websites, even though the products had never been offered at full price.

  • March 21, 2024

    Kroger's 'Smoked Gouda' Is Indeed Wood-Smoked, Judge Says

    Kroger Co. has defeated a proposed class action alleging deceptive labeling on its "smoked gouda," as an Illinois federal judge granted summary judgment Wednesday in an order referencing a declaration from the source company's president that the cheese goes through a wood-smoking process.

  • March 21, 2024

    7th Circ. Won't Let Admitted Fraudster Ditch $1.3M Restitution

    A woman who admitted to wire fraud in connection with a three-person scheme to file hundreds of false tax returns owes $1.3 million in restitution to the government, the Seventh Circuit ruled Thursday, rejecting the woman's claim that the amount was miscalculated.

  • March 21, 2024

    Exxon Wants Mass. Oil Purchase Docs In Greenwashing Suit

    The Massachusetts attorney general's office told a judge Thursday that Exxon Mobil Corp. is attempting to relitigate already-barred defenses in an alleged "greenwashing" case by seeking documents from at least a dozen state agencies, including ones concerning decisions by those agencies to purchase the energy company's products.

  • March 21, 2024

    Pool Company Aims To Bar Rival's False Ads After Verdict

    A swimming pool equipment manufacturer is looking to permanently ban a competitor from using deceptive marketing techniques on Amazon after a federal jury in North Carolina slapped the rival company with a nearly $15 million verdict for false advertising and unfair business practices.

  • March 21, 2024

    H&R Block Challenges FTC Judges In False Ad Battle

    H&R Block asked a Missouri federal court to stop administrative law judges from overseeing a Federal Trade Commission proceeding that accuses the tax preparation company of deceptive advertising, claiming the judges have job protections that unconstitutionally shield them from presidential oversight.

  • March 21, 2024

    DOJ Sues Apple, Rounds Out US Claims Against Tech Big 4

    The U.S. Department of Justice and several state attorneys general on Thursday launched an antitrust suit against Apple, accusing the world's dominant smartphone maker of maintaining an anti-competitive monopoly over its iron grip over the iPhone, rounding out the quartet of long-anticipated government antitrust litigation already proceeding against Google, Meta and Amazon.

  • March 20, 2024

    PACER Overcharge Attys Net $24M As Feds' $125M Deal OK'd

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday granted final approval to the U.S. government's $125 million deal ending class action claims that the judiciary charges users excessive fees to run the federal courts' PACER records system, signing off on nearly $23.9 million in fees to the nonprofit plaintiffs' attorneys.

  • March 20, 2024

    House Passes Bill To Protect Data From Foreign Adversaries

    The House voted unanimously on Wednesday to pass landmark data protection legislation that would ban data brokers from transferring, selling or providing access to Americans' sensitive personal data to foreign adversaries, including China.

  • March 20, 2024

    Montgomery McCracken Adds Litigation Pro In Philly

    Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP has added a former Weitz & Luxenberg PC attorney and seasoned litigation specialist to its team in Philadelphia.

  • March 20, 2024

    EU Commission Builds 'Toolkit' To Fight Counterfeiting

    The European Commission has adopted new measures to crack down on counterfeiting aimed at strengthening intellectual property rights by increasing the sanctions for criminal offenses while also designating a single contact point for enforcement issues. 

  • March 20, 2024

    White Supremacist Must Pay $10M For Election Robocalls

    A Montana federal judge has ordered an Idaho white supremacist to pay the Federal Communications Commission $9.9 million after being found liable for sending out thousands of racist robocalls.

  • March 20, 2024

    Calif. Firm Takes On AI, Dating Apps And 'Dopamine Culture'

    A Valentine’s Day class action against dating platform MatchGroup was just the latest in a series of ambitious fights the Malibu-based boutique Clarkson Law Firm PC has picked with Big Tech and beyond, hoping to more broadly protect consumers from addictive and harmful business practices.

  • March 20, 2024

    Hemp Co. Wins Bid To Reverse 'Irrational' UK Gov't CBD Ban

    A hemp company has won its bid in a London court for permission to challenge the U.K. government's decision to ban imports of its cannabis-derived products based on a trace of a controlled chemical.

  • March 20, 2024

    Amazon Wants Rethink On E-Book Monopolization Suit

    Amazon is asking a New York federal court to reconsider U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods' rejection of the company's motion to dismiss a proposed class action alleging that the company has monopolized the e-book market, or to at least certify two questions for the Second Circuit to address on interlocutory appeal.

  • March 20, 2024

    How The Supreme Court Could Narrow Chevron

    After hours of oral argument in a closely watched administrative law case, it appeared that some U.S. Supreme Court justices could be open to limiting the opportunities for lower courts to defer to federal agencies' legal interpretations in disputes over rulemaking — and legal experts said there are a number of ways they could do it.

  • March 20, 2024

    FCC Urged To Spend On School Firewalls, Not Wi-Fi Hotspots

    The Federal Communications Commission could better spend funds for education on beefed-up cybersecurity than on a controversial proposal for Wi-Fi hotspots, a broadband industry group told the agency.

  • March 20, 2024

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2024 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 20, 2024

    US Chamber's Litigation Funding Concerns Spur 2 State Laws

    Amid concerns from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about third-party litigation funding, including from potentially hostile foreign entities, state legislatures in Indiana and West Virginia have recently passed bills imposing restrictions on the practice.

  • March 20, 2024

    DA Says Greenhouse Suit Interferes With Code Enforcement

    The San Bernardino County district attorney is asking a California federal judge to throw out a suit from a Native American-owned company aiming to block the DA from abating and removing equipment from greenhouses that was used in an illegal cannabis operation involving a prior owner.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • Freight Forwarders And Common Carriers: Know Your Cargo

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    Freight forwarders and other nonprincipal parties involved in global cargo movement should follow the guidance in the multi-agency know-your-cargo compliance note to avoid enforcement actions should they fail to spot evasive tactics used in supply chains to circumvent U.S. sanctions and export controls, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Debt Collector Compliance Takeaways From An FDCPA Appeal

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    A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau amicus brief last month in an ongoing First Circuit appeal focusing on an interpretation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act can serve as a reminder for debt collectors to understand how their technologies, like bankruptcy scrubs and letter logic, can prevent litigation, says Justin Bradley at Womble Bond.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Bitcoin ETF Approval Doesn't Mean SEC Approves Of Crypto

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    While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval last month of 11 applications for spot exchange-traded funds tracking bitcoin is a landmark moment for the crypto-asset industry, investors who are hopeful that the SEC will approve similar crypto-based ETFs may be disappointed, says attorneys at Mintz.

  • Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand

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    Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Opinion

    CFPB Shouldn't Ditch Prior Earned Wage Access Precedent

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    Recent statements from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau general counsel Seth Frotman indicate the CFPB may be concluding that some or all earned wage access products are credit under federal law, but doing so would threaten the existence of the products and cause consumers to turn back to costly alternatives, says Eric Goldberg at Akerman.

  • A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards

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    In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.

  • Aviation Back On Course, But Keep Seat Belts Fastened

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    While the airline industry finally returned to profitability last year for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, and is poised for historic levels of traffic in 2024, supply chain problems and economic and geopolitical uncertainty persist — so more turbulence may lie ahead, say Kevin Lewis and Bart Biggers at Sidley.

  • What Brands Must Know For Calif. Recycle Label Compliance

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    A brand that stamps nonrecyclable packaging with the chasing arrows symbol could face liability under California's new law on labeling recyclable material, so brand owners should keep an eye on the state's pending survey process to identify which materials meet the criteria before requirements go into effect, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • FTC AI Inquiry Signals Intensified Focus On Emerging Tech

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent inquiry into investments and partnerships between Big Tech companies and artificial intelligence startups appears to be directed at guiding future enforcement decisions in competition, privacy and consumer protection — and three principles discussed at a related tech summit give insight on the agency's approach, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Preparing For A New Wave Of Litigation Under Silicosis Rules

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    After the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California issued an emergency temporary standard to combat noncompliance with assessments of workers' exposure to particles of crystalline silica, companies that manufacture, distribute or sell silica-containing products will need aggressive case-specific discovery to navigate a new wave of litigation, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Managing Competing Priorities In Witness Preparation

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    There’s often a divide between what attorneys and witnesses want out of the deposition process, but litigation teams can use several strategies to resolve this tension and help witnesses be more comfortable with the difficult conditions of testifying, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Amazon's €32M Data Protection Fine Acts As Employer Caveat

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    The recent decision by French data privacy regulator CNIL to fine Amazon for excessive surveillance of its workers opens up a raft of potential employment law, data protection and breach of contract issues, and offers a clear warning that companies need coherent justification for monitoring employees, say Robert Smedley and William Richmond-Coggan at Freeths.

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