Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Consumer Protection
-
April 15, 2024
Dems Grill Chamber Over 'Outrageous' CFPB Card Fee Suit
Two top Democratic senators are calling on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to explain why it sued to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late fee rule, a case they say is "outrageous" and puts the interests of big banks over the group's rank and file.
-
April 15, 2024
SeaWorld's Sesame Park Visitors Can't Get Cert. In Bias Fight
A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Monday to certify a class of Hispanic and Black customers who allege performers at the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc.-owned theme park Sesame Place discriminated against and ignored minority children, finding that the proposed 130 children class size is based on inadmissible speculation.
-
April 15, 2024
EPA Says Legacy Asbestos Poses Unreasonable Risk
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on Monday its long-awaited draft for the second part of its asbestos risk evaluation, which determined handling asbestos associated with legacy uses presents undue human health risks.
-
April 15, 2024
Calif. Cannabis Co. Stiiizy Sued Over Delta-8 Products
California cannabis giant Stiiizy has been accused of selling products which were touted as federally compliant hemp wares but purportedly had high enough levels of psychoactive THC to qualify as marijuana products, according to a proposed class action in Illinois federal court.
-
April 15, 2024
MGM Slams FTC Probe After Cyberattack During Khan Visit
MGM Resorts International on Monday accused the Federal Trade Commission of launching an "unconstitutional" investigation into its data protection practices after FTC Chair Lina Khan stayed at an MGM hotel in Las Vegas during a major cyberattack last year, according to a suit filed in D.C. federal court.
-
April 15, 2024
Whistleblower Says Lab Co. Ran COVID-Testing Scheme
A California-based diagnostics firm and its CEO have been hit with a whistleblower suit in Washington federal court by an ex-lab director who claims an affiliated company flouted regulatory standards and fraudulently billed government healthcare programs for COVID-19 tests on patients with private insurance.
-
April 15, 2024
4th Circ. Won't Let Borrower Pin Feds' Flub On Pa. Agency
The Fourth Circuit refused Monday to revive a lawsuit brought by a borrower alleging that a state student-loan-servicing agency's misrepresentations thwarted a loan forgiveness opportunity, with a panel reasoning that the organization was immune from the lawsuit.
-
April 15, 2024
House Rejects Bid To Overturn Spy Bill Authorization
The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday rejected an attempt to overturn legislation reauthorizing a controversial foreign surveillance program after several Republican lawmakers took issue with the exclusion of a warrant requirement for accessing U.S. citizens' information.
-
April 15, 2024
Minimize Nat'l Security Regs On Broadband, Verizon Says
Verizon said the Federal Communications Commission should not impose national security reviews that could disrupt existing broadband service when it passes a net neutrality order as expected this month.
-
April 15, 2024
Doc's NDAs Illegally Silenced Negative Reviews, Judge Says
A Washington state plastic surgery practice illegally required patients to sign pretreatment nondisclosure agreements that threatened to punish them for posting negative online reviews, a Washington federal judge has determined.
-
April 15, 2024
CFPB Hits Back At Bank Challenge To Small-Biz Lending Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has urged a Texas federal judge to dispense with an industry-backed challenge to its now-stayed reporting requirements for lenders in the nearly $2 trillion small-business loan market, arguing much of the case boils down to a beef with Congress for mandating the requirements in the first place.
-
April 15, 2024
Apple Faces Two Suits Over IPhone Market Dominance
Apple has been hit with a pair of suits alleging it has unfairly stifled competition in the smartphone market and that its practices and iPhone sales have violated federal securities and antitrust laws.
-
April 15, 2024
Pet Food Brand Chicken Soup Says Supplier Hiked Costs
A manufacturer that supplied the Chicken Soup for the Soul pet food brand bought ingredients from its own subsidiary, hiked prices and failed to deliver products, according to a response to the manufacturer's $3.1 million allegation that the name brand failed to pay for food already manufactured and sold to consumers.
-
April 15, 2024
L'Occitane Privacy Suit Against Zimmerman Reed Trimmed
A Los Angeles federal court is weighing ending a suit by L'Occitane against Zimmerman Reed LLP and thousands of clients who complained that the company's website tracking tools violated their online privacy, after denying a bid by defendants to compel arbitration and tossing a claim that Zimmerman Reed violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
-
April 15, 2024
Apple Defends Anti-Steering Rule Compliance In Epic Case
Apple told a California federal court it has fully complied with an order barring anti-steering rules in its App Store and said complaints from Epic Games, Microsoft and others about its compliance are just efforts by the companies to pad their own profits.
-
April 15, 2024
Meta, FTC Pause Constitutionality Fight For High Court Ruling
Meta and the Federal Trade Commission agreed Monday to pause Meta's challenge of FTC changes to a 2020 settlement over user privacy until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling on a similar case involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
-
April 15, 2024
Subaru Agrees To Replace And Refund Defective Windshields
Subaru of America Inc. and a proposed class of customers have asked a New Jersey federal judge for the preliminary approval of a settlement that could cover 100% or more of out of pocket losses and conclude a 4-year-long dispute over spontaneously cracking windshields.
-
April 15, 2024
LA County Tells FCC It Supports Plan To Georoute 988 Calls
Support is growing for a Federal Communications Commission proposal to require georouting calls to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, with Los Angeles County backing the idea Friday in a filing with the agency, and other groups saying even more urgency is needed.
-
April 15, 2024
Bond Co. Asks For Life-Saving Pause On $811M Fine
Immigration bonding company Libre by Nexus Inc. has begged a Virginia federal court for more time to pay an $811 million judgment for predatory bonding practices, saying it would collapse if forced to pay before it can execute its transfer to a new owner.
-
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."
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Expert Analysis
-
Conn. Loan Law Tweaks May Have 3 Major Effects On Lenders
Recently proposed minor amendments to Connecticut’s consumer protection laws could nonetheless mean major and unexpected changes to state consumer financial services regulations that dictate how lenders and their customer-facing service providers handle fee payments, mortgage servicer licensing and private student loans, says Jonathan Joshua at Joshua Law Firm.
-
Past CCPA Enforcement Sets Path For Compliance Efforts
The California Privacy Protection Agency and the California Attorney General's Office haven't skipped a beat in investigating potential noncompliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act, and six broad issues will continue to dominate the enforcement landscape and inform compliance strategy, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
-
7 Takeaways From CFPB Circular On Digital Comparison Tools
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new guidance regarding digital comparison-shopping platforms for financial services products and services offers fresh insights into the bureau's interpretation of the abusiveness standard and expands on principles underlying its previous guidance on the topic, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
-
Securing A Common Understanding Of Language Used At Trial
Witness examinations in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump illustrate the importance of building a common understanding of words and phrases and examples as a fact-finding tool at trial, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
-
How Policymakers Can Preserve The Promise Of Global Trade
Global trade faces increasing challenges but could experience a resurgence if long-held approaches adjust and the U.S. accounts for factors that undermine free trade's continuing viability, such as regional trading blocs and the increasing speed of technological advancement, says David Jividen at White & Case.
-
Opinion
Proposed MDL Management Rule Needs Refining
Proponents of the recently proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 believe it may enhance efficiency in multidistrict litigation proceedings if adopted, but there are serious concerns that it could actually hinder plaintiffs' access to justice through the courts — and there are fundamental flaws that deserve our attention, says Ashleigh Raso at Nigh Goldenberg.
-
Meta Data Scraping Case Has Lessons For Platforms, AI Cos.
The California federal court ruling that artificial intelligence company Bright Data's scraping of public data from Meta social media sites does not constitute a breach of contract signals that platforms should review their terms of service and AI companies could face broad implications for their training of algorithms, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
-
Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
-
2nd Circ.'s Binance Locus Test Adds Risk For Blockchain Cos.
The Second Circuit’s recent use of the irrevocable liability test to rule a class action may proceed against decentralized crypto exchange Binance heightens the possibility that other blockchain-based businesses with domestic customers and digital infrastructure will find themselves subject to U.S. securities laws, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
-
Legal Issues When Training AI On Previously Collected Data
Following the Federal Trade Commission's recent guidance about the use of customer data to train artificial intelligence models, companies should carefully think through their terms of service and privacy policies and be cautious when changing them to permit new uses of previously collected data, says James Gatto at Sheppard Mullin.
-
Protested CFPB Supervisory Order Reveals Process, Priorities
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s order announcing its first use of special oversight power to place installment lender World Acceptance Corp. under supervision despite resistance from the company provides valuable insight into which products and practices may draw bureau scrutiny, and illuminates important nuances of the risk assessment procedures, say Josh Kotin and Michelle Rogers at Cooley.
-
Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
-
Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from consumer fraud to employment — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including coercive communications with putative class members and Article III standing at the class certification stage.
-
Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
-
3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'
Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.