Consumer Protection

April 08, 2025
3M Tells 2nd Circ. Conn. PFAS Suit Belongs In Federal Court

3M Co. on Monday told the Second Circuit that Connecticut's lawsuit accusing the company of polluting the environment with forever chemicals contained in its consumer products belongs in federal court.
April 08, 2025
Subscribers Push For Arbitration In MLB.TV Data Sharing Row

An MLB.TV subscriber filed a petition on behalf of himself and 5,600 customers, asking a New York federal court to force the league's media arm into arbitration over allegations that it is misusing customers' personal information.
April 08, 2025
CFPB Withdraws From MoneyGram Suit, NY AG To Continue

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a New York federal judge that it would like to drop out of its Biden-era enforcement lawsuit against MoneyGram International Inc., a move that would leave behind the New York attorney general as the sole plaintiff in the case.
April 08, 2025
Conn. Justices OK Debt Negotiator's Suit Against Watchdog

Connecticut's highest court will allow a trial judge to decide whether the Department of Banking can skirt the state's restriction on regulating attorneys to the judicial branch, declining Tuesday to end a suit that a law firm and its associated debt negotiation group brought against the state watchdog.
April 08, 2025
No Sanctions For DC In RealPage Antitrust Case

The District of Columbia and its attorneys at Cohen Milstein have escaped a sanctions bid in the district's rental pricing case against RealPage Inc. and local landlords, as one of the building owners also had a motion to dismiss the claims against it denied.
April 08, 2025
Berkshire Unit Looks To Transfer Commission Fee Claims

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company is pushing a Missouri federal court to transfer a proposed class action accusing it and other companies of conspiring to artificially inflate buyer-broker commission fees, arguing the claims should be litigated in Iowa federal court instead.
April 08, 2025
BMW Faces Class Action Over Water Pump Fire Risk

A driver has hit BMW with a proposed class action in North Carolina federal court over the manufacturer's recall of roughly 721,000 cars containing faulty water pumps that could leak and cause a fire.
April 08, 2025
FCC Reworks Database Of Reassigned Phone Numbers

It will be easier and cost less for companies to make sure they're reaching the right consumer's phone number with recent changes to the Reassigned Numbers Database, the Federal Communications Commission said.
April 08, 2025
Amedisys Gets Merger Filing Claim Paused In DOJ's UHG Suit

A Maryland federal judge has hit pause on part of the Justice Department lawsuit challenging UnitedHealth's $3.3 billion acquisition of home health and hospice company Amedisys, preferring to handle the merger challenge first and only then turn to allegations that Amedisys shirked its merger filing requirements.
April 08, 2025
Justices Halt Order To Reinstate Federal Workers

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday hit pause on a California federal court order reinstating tens of thousands of probationary federal workers who were fired from six agencies, agreeing with the Trump administration that the nonprofit groups that obtained the order lack standing to challenge the firings.
April 07, 2025
Autotrader Website 'Tester' Can't Carry Privacy Suit

A California federal judge has tossed a proposed class action accusing Autotrader of unlawfully sharing website visitors' search queries with third parties, finding that the plaintiff didn't suffer an actionable injury because her expectations were met when she visited the website to "test" for privacy violations.
April 07, 2025
Bigelow Emails Spill The Tea About 'USA' Label Lies, Jury Told

An attorney for a class of tea consumers suing R.C. Bigelow over a "Manufactured in the USA 100%" label that has already been found to be false told a California federal jury during closing arguments Monday that internal emails show that executives were either reckless or intentionally misled the public.
April 07, 2025
Sig Sauer Says Gun Optics Recall Prevented Harm

Gunmaker Sig Sauer has asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to toss a proposed class action filed against it over a recall involving battery-powered firearm optics, claiming the plaintiff decided to initiate litigation despite not suffering any negative effects from it.
April 07, 2025
FCC Agrees To Bankers' Request To Delay Call Consent Rule

The Federal Communications Commission agreed Monday to delay for a year a new rule expanding the scope of call consent revocation, after banking groups said they need more time to comply.
April 07, 2025
Mont. State Senator, Farmer Challenge Canadian Tariff Orders

A Montana state senator and a Blackfeet Nation farmer are asking a federal court to block several Trump administration executive orders and proclamations that impose tariffs on Canadian goods and declare an energy emergency, arguing that the decisions are an unconstitutional attempt to regulate commerce while violating their treaty rights.
April 07, 2025
Insurers Lose Subrogation Suits Over Blackbaud Data Breach

Several insurers cannot recoup investigation and credit monitoring expenses they covered for their insureds following a 2020 ransomware attack against Blackbaud, a Delaware state court ruled, saying two suits by the carriers failed to allege insured-specific facts in order to adequately plead breach of contract claims against the software company.
April 07, 2025
Birth Control Companies Escape Conn. Long-Arm Injury Suits

Eight women who claim to have suffered severe and debilitating injuries after a birth control device — the Filshie Clip — implanted in their body migrated cannot sue in Connecticut state court the companies that designed, manufactured and distributed the clip, a judge has ruled, saying he doesn't have jurisdiction over the out-of-state companies.
April 07, 2025
Coinbase Accused Of Scam Prevention Shortfalls

A California man has filed a proposed class action seeking to hold cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase liable for failing to implement safeguards against fraudsters who run "pig-butchering" scams.
April 07, 2025
T-Mobile Says 5G Rural Fund Could Be Unnecessary

T-Mobile thinks a federal program to patch holes in rural 5G service using an auction fund could end up wasting money by getting off the ground too soon, and has urged the Federal Communications Commission to put the whole idea on ice.
April 07, 2025
Fla. Man Pleads Guilty In $8.4M Medicare ID Fraud Case

A Fort Lauderdale man has pled guilty in Florida federal court to criminal charges accusing him of illegally buying Medicare identification numbers and using those numbers to help submit $8.4 million in false Medicare claims.
April 07, 2025
Agri Stats Pushes Back Against DOJ Doc Bid In Antitrust Case

Agri Stats Inc. has told a Minnesota federal court that a U.S. Department of Justice motion seeking documents is just an effort to delay the government's case accusing the data firm of helping chicken, pork and turkey producers share competitively sensitive information.
April 07, 2025
Drug Buyers, Generics Cos. Fight Over Bellwether Litigation

Generic drug buyers vied Friday with the pharmaceutical companies they've accused of price-fixing over how to shape the first rounds of long-gestating Pennsylvania federal court litigation that the plaintiffs want heard in separate consecutive trials and that the drugmakers want combined.
April 07, 2025
Fintech Customers Sue Banks Over Synapse Collapse

Evolve Bank & Trust and Lineage Bank were hit with a consumer's proposed class action in Tennessee federal court accusing them of mismanaging their relationships with Synapse Financial, a now-bankrupt middleware fintech service that the suit says caused customers to lose $85 million.
April 07, 2025
ACLU, Others Slam Bid To 'Magic Eraser' CFPB Redlining Deal

A slew of public interest groups mobilized Friday against the Trump administration's bid to recant a recently settled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau redlining case, telling an Illinois federal judge that the move is about politics, not fairness, and should be denied.
April 07, 2025
Drivers Defend Class Action Over Ford Engine Fire Defect

Ford shouldn't be allowed to evade claims that it sold hybrid electric vehicles with defective engines that could spontaneously stall and catch fire, drivers told a Michigan federal judge, saying the automaker's solutions require them to continue driving "dangerous vehicles" that could undergo "a spontaneous catastrophic engine failure"

Expert Analysis

Series

Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.
5 Drug And Device Developments That Shaped 2024

The last year saw significant legal developments affecting drug and device manufacturers, with landmark decisions and regulatory changes that require vigilance and agility from the industry, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
Takeaways From SEC's Mixed Results In '24 Crypto Litigation

Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new leadership seems likely to create a more favorable cryptocurrency regulatory environment, it must also confront the consequences of, and lingering questions raised by, the SEC's 2024 policy of investigating and charging cryptocurrency trading platforms for operating unregistered exchanges, say attorneys at Dechert.
Opinion

Aviation Watch: How Court Nixed Boeing Plea Deal Over DEI

A Texas federal court's rejection of the plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing over the 737 Max aircraft gratuitously injected the court's views on diversity, equity and inclusion into a case that shouldn't have been a criminal matter in the first place, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.
Reviewing The High Court's Approach To Free Speech Online

As the U.S. Supreme Court began addressing the interplay between the First Amendment and online social media platforms, its three opinions from last term show the justices adopting a nuanced approach that recognizes that private citizens, public employees and online platforms all have First Amendment rights, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
Series

In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line

The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.
3 Factors Affecting Retail M&A Deals In 2025

Retailers considering mergers and acquisitions this year face an evolving antitrust environment, including a new administration under President-elect Donald Trump, revised merger guidelines and a precedent set last year by a canceled $8.5 billion handbag merger, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
Top 10 Legal Issues This Year For Transportation Industry GCs

General counsel must carefully consider numerous legal and policy challenges facing the automotive and transportation industry in the year to come, especially while navigating new technologies, regulations and global markets, says Francesco Liberatore at Squire Patton.
Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
Searching For Insight On Requested Google Chrome Remedy

The potential for Google to divest its Chrome browser — a remedy requested by the Justice Department following a D.C. federal court’s finding the company is a monopolist — has drawn both criticism and endorsement, but legal precedent likely supports the former, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
Consultants Should Be Aware Of DOJ's Potential New Reach

The U.S. Department of Justice's recent first-of-its-kind settlement with McKinsey & Co. indicates not only the DOJ's more aggressive stance toward businesses' potential criminal wrongdoings, but also the benefits of self-disclosure and cooperation when wrongdoing becomes apparent, says Dom Caamano at Kibler Fowler.
New Year, New Risks: 8 Top Cyber Issues For Finance In 2025

As financial institutions forge ahead in 2025, they must strike a delicate balance between embracing technological innovation and guarding against its darker threats, which this year could include everything from supply chain vulnerabilities to deepfakes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.
How Changes In State Gift Card Laws May Affect Cos. In 2025

2024 state legislative movements around the escheatment of unused gift card balances and consumer fraud protections should prompt issuers to consider whether changes in company domicile or blanket cash-back policies are needed in the new year, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
Lessons From The SEC's 2024 Crackdown On AI Washing

AI washing was the subject of increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 following a surge in the commercial adoption of generative artificial intelligence technologies in 2023, highlighting the importance of transparency, accuracy and accountability when communicating about AI, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.