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Consumer Protection
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April 15, 2024
DC Judge Blocks Texas AG's Media Matters Investigation
A D.C. federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from investigating Media Matters over its reporting on the X social media platform, ruling that the probe deterred the progressive media watchdog's "core First Amendment activities."
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April 15, 2024
Senators Demand Info On CFTC Chats With Bankman-Fried
Two U.S. senators have asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's chair to detail all of his communications and meetings with convicted FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
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April 15, 2024
Justices Won't Nix FDA Labeling Preemption For State Claims
The Supreme Court on Monday let stand lower court findings that the unique authority of the federal Food and Drug Administration preempted and, therefore, justified dismissing a proposed class action that alleged a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary broke Massachusetts law by misbranding Lactaid drug products as dietary supplements.
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April 15, 2024
Pain Patch Buyer Seeks Class Cert. In Kroger False Ad Suit
A Chicago woman who accused The Kroger Co. of misleading consumers about the effectiveness of its over-the-counter lidocaine pain relief patches via the product's label has asked an Illinois federal judge to certify her proposed class of fellow Prairie State consumers who were purportedly duped by the grocer.
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April 15, 2024
Consumer Class Action Trio Joins Morgan Lewis From Crowell
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP said Monday that it has added three partners from Crowell & Moring LLP to its consumer class action and product liability practice.
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April 15, 2024
Justices Won't Hear Brokerage's Arbitration Claim In Fees Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear HomeServices of America's argument that certain class members in a lawsuit over real estate agents' commissions should have been compelled to arbitrate their antitrust claims rather than taking them to a jury.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Conn. Data Privacy Enforcement Takeaways For Cos.
In light of the Connecticut attorney general's recently released report on its enforcement of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, which focuses on companies' privacy policies, protections of sensitive data and more, businesses can expect increased enforcement scrutiny — especially in areas that are the subject of consumer complaints, say Paul Pittman and Abdul Hafiz at White & Case.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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How Echoing Techniques Can Derail Witnesses At Deposition
Before depositions, defense attorneys must prepare witnesses to recognize covert echoing techniques that may be used by opposing counsel to lower their defenses and elicit sensitive information — potentially leading to nuclear settlements and verdicts, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Regulatory Trends Offer 4 Lessons For Debt Relief Providers
A string of enforcement actions, including a New York lawsuit filed last month by seven states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, underscore the regulatory scrutiny that debt relief and credit repair companies face and offer important lessons on telemarketing and deceptive practices compliance, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Opinion
Contractors Need Protection From NJ Homeowner Protections
A recently passed New Jersey law, combined with the state's Consumer Fraud Act, is intended to protect innocent homeowners, but legislative action must be taken to prevent homeowners from abusing the law to avoid paying hardworking contractors, say Gary Strong and Madison Calkins at Gfeller Laurie.
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Bracing Cos. For Calif. Privacy Agency's Restored Authority
A recent California state appeals court decision greenlights the California Privacy Protection Agency's enforcement of certain consumer privacy regulations, which may speed up compliance requirements, so businesses considering use of artificial intelligence, for instance, may want to reassess their handling of privacy notices and opt-out requests, say Kevin Angle and Matthew Cin at Ropes & Gray.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Basics Of Bank Regulators' Push For Discount Window Use
As the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency emphasize short-term liquidity risk management as central to preventing spring 2023-style bank collapses, banks should carefully tune into regulators’ remarks encouraging use of the Fed’s discount window, which some policymakers identify as a key component in the evolution of liquidity regulation and backstop lending, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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2 Emerging Defenses For Website Tracking Class Actions
Putative class actions premised on state wiretapping statutes that bar website activity tracking continue to be on the rise, but they are increasingly being dismissed on two procedural grounds, says Sheri Pan at ZwillGen.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Communication Is Key As CFPB Updates Appeals Process
Though a recently updated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule expands financial institutions' abilities to appeal supervisory decisions, creating strong relationships and open communication channels with CFPB examiners may help resolve disputes faster than the more cumbersome formal process, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.
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Considerations For Disclosing AI Use In SEC Filings
Recent remarks from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler should be heard as a clarion call for public companies to disclose artificial intelligence use, with four takeaways on what companies should disclose, says Richard Hong at Morrison Cohen.
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Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power
In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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Setting The Stage For High Court BofA Escrow Interest Case
Dori Bailey and Curtis Johnson at Bond Schoeneck examine relevant legislation and case law dating back 200 years ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in Cantero v. Bank of America, the outcome of which will determine whether state laws governing mortgage escrow accounts can be enforced against national banks.
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What To Know About OCC Proposals For Bank Merger Review
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's proposed changes to the agency's bank merger review process could exacerbate industry concerns with long and unpredictable processing periods because the proposal is ambiguous with respect to how the OCC will view certain transactions, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.