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Consumer Protection
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May 17, 2024
Peloton Says Investors Are 'Manufacturing' Bike Recall Suit
Fitness equipment company Peloton urged a New York federal judge on Friday to toss a suit alleging it overstated the safety of its bikes before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled roughly 2.2 million Peloton products over a bike seat defect, saying the investors are trying to "manufacture" a case from a voluntary recall.
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May 17, 2024
Crypto Firms Back FIT 21 Legislation Ahead Of House Vote
The advocacy group Crypto Council for Innovation gathered 60 industry signatories for a Friday letter to House leaders expressing support for an anticipated vote on a framework to regulate digital assets.
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May 17, 2024
Feds Seek 10 Years In First Product Safety Conviction
The government is asking for a pair of 10-year prison sentences for two Gree USA Inc. executives convicted of failing to report defective humidifiers, after the two were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
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May 17, 2024
Bettors Say 6th Circ. Erred In Ruling Over Doped Derby Horse
A group of gamblers who claim they had winning bets on the 2021 Kentucky Derby after officials stripped the lead horse of its title has petitioned the Sixth Circuit to rehear arguments after a panel of the court earlier this month affirmed the lower court's decision to toss the case.
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May 17, 2024
Chicago Wants Climate Deception Claims Back In State Court
The city of Chicago says it should be in state court hashing out climate change deception claims against several of the nation's largest oil producers because the companies lodged "objectively baseless" arguments to remove its case to federal court.
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May 17, 2024
Broadband Advocates Decry Delays On Senate Spectrum Bill
Broadband advocates who work on fixing the "digital divide" said they are dismayed the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee again delayed a markup Thursday to advance legislation renewing the soon-to-expire Affordable Connectivity Program.
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May 17, 2024
Dolce & Gabbana Sued Over 'Worthless' Digital Outfit NFTs
Luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana has been hit with a shareholder class action in New York federal court, alleging it sold consumers "essentially worthless" non-fungible tokens that it misrepresented as high-value and abandoned the project while retaining over $25 million that was used to fund it.
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May 17, 2024
Utilities Need More Airwaves To Drive Growth, FCC Hears
Utilities need more spectrum to keep their networks running smoothly as they move toward digitizing the electric grid, which is already under significant strain, a wireless service provider has told the Federal Communications Commission.
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May 17, 2024
Google Says Payment Means No Need For DOJ Ad Tech Jury
Google is arguing in Virginia federal court the government has no right to a jury trial in a case accusing the company of monopolizing key digital advertising technology, especially after Google issued a check for the money enforcers could be awarded if they won.
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May 17, 2024
$5M Candy Recall Coverage Dispute Moved To Texas Court
An insurer's lawsuit disclaiming coverage for a candy manufacturer over a near $5 million recall over metal fragments found in certain gummy candies belongs in Texas, a New York federal judge has ruled, finding that the action was "filed preemptively to deprive the natural plaintiff of its choice of forum."
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May 17, 2024
Industry Emboldened After Justices Galvanize Agency Attacks
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court said "extraordinary" and "far-reaching" attacks on administrative enforcers can skip agency tribunals and go straight to federal district court, ambitious challenges to regulatory powers are rapidly gaining traction, and the high court is poised to put them on an even firmer footing.
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May 17, 2024
Day After High Court Win, 'Full Strength' CFPB Sues Fintech
Fresh off its landmark victory at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday filed its first contested enforcement action in months while its director separately pledged to push full-speed ahead with the agency "firing on all cylinders."
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May 16, 2024
Buckle Up: CFPB's High Court Win Will Thaw Frozen Docket
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is walking away from the U.S. Supreme Court with its funding and rulebook intact, a victory that caps off years of constitutional wrangling over how the agency was set up and will usher in a wave of activity that has financial services attorneys bracing for impact.
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May 16, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Let Alexa Users Revive Voice Data Privacy Row
The Ninth Circuit on Thursday refused to reinstate a proposed class action alleging Amazon's Alexa software illegally collects voice data to target users with advertisements, agreeing with the lower court that the e-commerce giant had clearly disclosed the practice and the plaintiffs hadn't shown they were harmed.
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May 16, 2024
$2B Default Recommended For Making Fair Trial 'Impossible'
Years of lies should put a pair of Chinese electronics companies on the hook for over $2 billion in default judgment, a special master told a California federal judge, adding that their yearslong no-show and disregard of U.S. counsel advice to retain documents have rendered a fair trial "impossible."
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May 16, 2024
Albertsons Sued Over 'Naturally Flavored' Fruit Bar Labels
Albertsons Cos. Inc. was hit with a proposed class action Wednesday in California federal court by a shopper who alleges the grocer falsely labels its breakfast cereal bars as containing natural flavors even though they're made with artificial ingredients derived from petrochemicals.
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May 16, 2024
Thomas, Alito: Two Originalists, Two Takes On CFPB Case
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — often birds of a feather — butted heads Thursday over the original meaning and purpose of the U.S. Constitution's appropriations clause in a decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme, highlighting what experts describe as the pair's different approaches to originalism.
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May 16, 2024
FCC Told Rural Aid Can't Lean Too Much On Broadband Maps
Wireless providers are calling out flaws in the Federal Communications Commission's national broadband map, telling the agency to require more certification from providers to verify that they can actually serve areas they say they can before allocating broadband deployment funding.
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May 16, 2024
Bitcoin ATM Operator Ran Illegal Money Transmitter, Jury Says
A New York state jury has convicted the operator of a network of bitcoin kiosks that allegedly catered to criminal activity of operating an unlicensed money transmitter and tax fraud, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
FTC Can't Make Albertsons, Kroger Produce Divestiture Docs
An administrative law judge on Thursday denied the Federal Trade Commission's "premature" bid to compel Kroger and Albertsons to fork over documents related to negotiations for the companies' expanded divestiture plan amid the commission's in-house challenge to the grocers' merger.
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May 16, 2024
BofA Customers Get Final OK For $8M Deal In ACH Fee Suit
A North Carolina federal judge has granted final approval to an $8 million settlement for Bank of America customers who claim they were unfairly charged fees for Automated Clearing House transfers.
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May 16, 2024
BIC Hit With Class Action Over PFAS-Containing Razors
The makers of BIC razors intentionally use so-called forever chemicals in several of their products but failed to mention that to customers, who say they wouldn't have bought the razors if they'd known they were exposing themselves to toxic chemicals.
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May 16, 2024
Judge Questions Colo.'s Power Over Out-Of-State Banks
A Colorado federal judge on Thursday asked U.S. banking regulators why the state should be able to cap interest rates for loans made to residents by out-of-state financial institutions, questioning why it was "consistent with federalism" to let an individual state have that far of a reach.
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May 16, 2024
Stubhub, Attys Face Sanctions Bid Over 'Strategy Of Evasion'
Counsel for consumers seeking StubHub refunds for events canceled or rescheduled due to COVID-19 urged a California federal magistrate judge Thursday to sanction the online ticket platform and its lawyers, saying they've "engaged in a strategy of evasion, denial and distortion" to avoid producing hyperlinked documents despite a court order.
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May 16, 2024
EPA Doctor Not A Whistleblower For Slamming Lead Plan
A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pediatrician and epidemiologist who publicly criticized the EPA's plan to reduce lead in drinking water as inadequate is not protected by federal whistleblower law, the Federal Circuit said Thursday.
Expert Analysis
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Considering The Logical Extremes Of Your Legal Argument
Recent oral arguments in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump highlighted the age-old technique of extending an argument to its logical limit — a principle that is still important for attorneys to consider in preparing their cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Reducing The Risk Of PFAS False Advertising Class Actions
A wave of class actions continues to pummel products that allegedly contain per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, with plaintiffs challenging advertising that they say misleads consumers by implying an absence of PFAS — but there are steps companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.
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CFPB Overdraft Rule Could Mean Big Shift In Banking Biz
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed "to close a longstanding loophole" in the Truth in Lending Act by changing how it regulates overdraft fees, but underneath the headline-grabbing proposal is a foundational shift in how the bureau views overdraft services, say attorneys at Katten.
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Storytelling Strategies To Defuse Courtroom Conspiracies
Misinformation continues to proliferate in all sectors of society, including in the courtroom, as jurors try to fill in the gaps of incomplete trial narratives — underscoring the need for attorneys to tell a complete, consistent and credible story before and during trial, says David Metz at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Navigating The FCC's Rules On AI-Generated Robocall Voices
The Federal Communications Commission's declaratory ruling issued last week extends the agency's regulatory reach under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to calls that use artificial intelligence technology to generate voices, laying out a compliance roadmap, but not making AI-cloned voices in robocalls illegal per se, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.
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Aviation Watch: 737 Max Blowout Raises Major Safety Issues
The sudden in-flight loss of a side panel on an Alaska Air 737-9 Max last month, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the plane's cabin, highlighted ongoing quality issues at Boeing, the jet's manufacturer — but the failure also arose from decisions made by the airline, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
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Mass Arb. Rule Changes May Be A Hindrance For Consumers
The American Arbitration Association's recent changes to its mass arbitration supplementary rules and fee schedule, including a shift from filing fees to initiation and per-case fees, may reduce consumers' ability to counteract businesses' mandatory arbitration agreements, say Eduard Korsinsky and Alexander Krot at Levi & Korsinsky.
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3 Principles For Minimizing The Risk Of A Nuclear Verdict
In one of the latest examples of so-called nuclear verdicts, a single plaintiff was awarded $2.25 billion in a jury trial against Monsanto — revealing the need for defense attorneys to prioritize trust, connection and simplicity when communicating with modern juries, say Jenny Hergenrother and Mia Falzarano at Alston & Bird.
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Series
Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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Freight Forwarders And Common Carriers: Know Your Cargo
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.
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Debt Collector Compliance Takeaways From An FDCPA Appeal
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.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
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.
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Bitcoin ETF Approval Doesn't Mean SEC Approves Of Crypto
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.
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Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand
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.
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Opinion
CFPB Shouldn't Ditch Prior Earned Wage Access Precedent
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.